The Location of Technological Innovations within the Japanese Semiconductor Industry

Tomokazu Arita and Philip McCann
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Tomokazu Arita: University of Tsukuba
Philip McCann: University of Reading

Chapter 16 in The Emergence of the Knowledge Economy, 2002, pp 321-344 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Much of the current literature on hi-tech developments within the electronics industry tends to focus on the spatial and organisational arrangements evident in innovative clusters such as Silicon Valley. There are, however, many very different forms of spatial organisation, which engender innovations within the semiconductor industry, and these variations depend on the particular sub-sector of the semiconductor industry. In this paper we discuss the case of Japanese vertically integrated semiconductor producers. The paper will analyse data from over 100 semiconductor plants operated by over 80 firms located within Japan. In particular, we will focus on the firms undertaking the wafer manufacturing processes. Our results indicate that the spatial arrangements here are very different from those evident in the US or Europe. As we will see in this paper, in order to discuss the geographical behaviour of many parts of the semiconductor industry, it is necessary to consider not only organisational issues, but also the different sub-sectors within the industry. From these perspectives, many of the generalisations made about the semiconductor industry based on observations of Silicon Valley are seen to be rather inappropriate.

Keywords: Semiconductor Industry; Patent Citation; Parent Firm; Organisational Arrangement; Integrate Circuit Design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-24823-1_16

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