Management of Cluster Policies: Case Studies of Japanese, German, and French Bio-clusters

This paper provides a detailed comparison of the following five cases of Japanese and European clusters in biotechnology: (1) Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC) in Kobe (Japan), (2) Fuji Pharma Valley Cluster in Shizuoka Prefecture (Japan), (3) BioM Biotech Cluster in Munich (Germany), (4) BioRegion Rhine-Neckar in Heidelberg (Germany), and (5) Alsace BioValley Cluster in Strasbourg (France). We pay special attention to the cluster policy and its management by each region's core cluster management organization. Information on the focal clusters and the management of cluster policies has been obtained through interviews with the cluster directors and core staff in 2010 and 2011. We find several similarities and differences among the five cases of Japanese and European clusters. We also discuss how the management of cluster policies by the core management organizations may be related with the performance of regional clusters.management, cluster policy, regional cluster, R&D, biotechnology, international comparison

Impact of University Intellectual Property Policy on the Performance of University-Industry Research Collaboration

Despite various expected advantages, university-industry research collaboration (UIC), a relationship between two different worlds, often faces serious difficulties. Thus, the performance of UIC depends on the research partners' strategies to bridge the gaps between them according to the institutional environment. In Japan, UIC has developed rapidly since the late 1990s based on drastic institutional changes regarding universities. We pay special attention to the role of the university intellectual property (IP) policy introduced after 2003 and empirically examine its impact on the performance of UIC projects. A clear and equitable IP policy that can be applied flexibly to the needs of partners would be optimal for a UIC to be efficiently managed. Otherwise, the project might face serious conflicts of interests and low incentive for cooperation. Using a sample of Japanese firms from our original survey, we find that the IP policy of partner universities indeed has a positive and significant impact on various performances of UIC projects, controlling for firm and project characteristics and considering potential selection bias from UIC participation.intellectual property, research collaboration, small business, Japan

R&D Productivity and the Organization of Cluster Policy: An Empirical Evaluation of the Industrial Cluster Project in Japan

Industrial clusters have attracted increasing attention as important locations of innovation. Therefore, several countries have started promotion policies for industrial clusters. However, there are few empirical studies on cluster policies. This paper examines the effects of the “Industrial Cluster Project” (ICP) in Japan on the R&D productivity of participants, using a unique dataset of 229 small firms, and discusses the conditions necessary for the effective organization of cluster policies. Different from former policy approaches, the ICP aims at building collaborative networks between universities and industries and supports the autonomous development of existing regional industries without direct intervention in the clustering process. Thus far, the ICP is similar to indirect support systems adopted by successful European clusters. Our estimation results suggest that participation in the cluster project alone does not affect R&D productivity. Moreover, research collaboration with a partner in the same cluster region decreases R&D productivity both in terms of the quantity and quality of patents. Therefore, in order to improve the R&D efficiency of local firms, it is also important to construct wide-range collaborative networks within and beyond the clusters, although most clusters focus on the network at a narrowly defined local level. However, cluster participants apply for more patents than others without reducing patent quality when they collaborate with national universities in the same cluster region.Industrial cluster; University-industry partnership; Small and medium enterprise; R&D; Patent

"Search under the Knightian Uncertainty"

Suppose that "uncertainty" about labor market conditions has increased. Does this change induce an unemployed worker to search longer, or shorter? This paper shows that the answer is drastically different depending on whether an increase in "uncertainty" is an increase in risk or that in true uncertainty in the sense of Frank Knight. We show in a general framework that, while an increase in risk (the mean-preserving spread of the wage distribution that the worker thinks she faces) increases the reservation wage, an increase in the Knightian uncertainty (a decrease in her confidence about the wage distribution) reduces it.

"Economics of Self-Feeding Fear"

A model of self-feeding fear is presented. Suppose that an economic agent is (1-ƒÃ)~100% certain that uncertainty she faces is characterized by a particular probability measure, but that she has a fear that, with ƒÃ~100% chance, her conviction is completely wrong and she is left perfectly ignorant about the true measure in the present as well as in the future. We call this situation ƒÃ-contamination of confidence. In this situation, if the economic agent follows Bayesian procedure or its variant, which is considered as rational in the theory of economics, her confidence erodes after having new observation.

"A Simple Axiomatization of Iterated Choquet Objectives"

A set of axioms which characterizes a preference representable by the iterated Choquet expected utility is presented. This objective function is attractive since it possesses a feature of dynamical consistency. Furthermore,we show that under the same axioms the conditional preference is represented by the Choquet expected utility with respect to the capacity which is updated according to the Dempster-Shafer rule. We do this by weakening Schmeidler's axiom of comonotonic independence to our axiom of constrained comonotonic independence and by adding the axiom of dynamical consistency.

Impact of University Intellectual Property Policy on the Performance of University-Industry Research Collaboration

Despite various expected advantages, university-industry research collaboration (UIC), a relationship between two different worlds, often faces serious difficulties. Thus, the performance of UIC depends on the research partners’ strategies to bridge the gaps between them according to the institutional environment. In Japan, UIC has developed rapidly since the late 1990s based on drastic institutional changes regarding universities. We pay special attention to the role of the university intellectual property (IP) policy introduced after 2003 and empirically examine its impact on the performance of UIC projects. A clear and equitable IP policy that can be applied flexibly to the needs of partners would be optimal for a UIC to be efficiently managed. Otherwise, the project might face serious conflicts of interests and low incentive for cooperation. Using a sample of Japanese firms from our original survey, we find that the IP policy of partner universities indeed has a positive and significant impact on various performances of UIC projects, controlling for firm and project characteristics and considering potential selection bias from UIC participation.university, intellectual property policy, research collaboration, project performance, Japan

A Hidden Role of Public Subsidy in University-Industry Research Collaborations

Contractual and organizational characteristics of university-industry research collaboration (hereafter UIC) are keys to its success. In this respect, government can play essential roles in UIC: Public subsidy for research and development (hereafter R&D) is not only an important financial support for UIC, but may also be a useful channel to promote trust along with contractual agreements and information sharing among the members, which results in effective coordination and thus the success of UIC. However, few empirical studies investigate the latter role of public R&D subsidy in UIC. Thus, using original survey data, this paper empirically examines and find that public R&D subsidy improves coordination in UIC, including trust formation, contractual agreements, and communication quality between the partners as well as commitment by the partners.pubic subsidy, R&D, research collaboration, university, contract, trust

Subsidy and networking: The effects of direct and indirect support programs of the cluster policy

Industrial clusters have attracted considerable attention worldwide for their expected contribution to regional innovation. Recently, policymakers in various countries have developed specific cluster policies. However, there exist few empirical studies on cluster policies. In this study, we use original questionnaire data to empirically evaluate the Industrial Cluster Project (ICP) initiated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2001. We address two research questions on the effect of the ICP: are the project participants who exploit various support programs more successful in alliance/network formation within the cluster than others and which kind of ICP support program contributes to firm performance. In a departure from previous such projects, the ICP aims at the autonomous development of regional industries and includes both direct R&D support and indirect networking/coordination support. The focus of public support for local firms has clearly shifted toward enabling networking and coordination for those who can help themselves Thus, we pay special attention to the differences between direct R&D support and indirect networking/coordination support, which indicate the conditions necessary for the effective organization of cluster policies to improve firm performance. Our empirical evaluation is based on a recent original survey of a sample of 511 firms. We first employ the propensity score and the difference-in-differences estimation to analyze the degree of alliance/network formation before and after participating in the ICP. Thereafter, we use Heckman’s two-step procedure and the negative binomial model to examine the effects of support programs on firm performance. The estimation results suggest that cluster participants who exploit support programs (especially indirect support measures) expand the industry-university-government network after participating in the ICP. Moreover, we find that not every support program contributes to firm performance; firms should therefore select the program that is most aligned with their aims. Indirect support programs have an extensive and strong impact on output, especially innovation outcomes, whereas direct R&D support has only a weak effect.cluster policy, industrial cluster, R&D support, subsidy, networking

"Liquidity Motives of Holding Money under Investment Risk: A Dynamic Analysis"

Jones and Ostroy (1984) argue that money,as an asset of the least transaction cost, offers exibility to its holder, which other assets cannot provide. We extend the idea of Jones and Ostroy into a truely dynamic framework of infinite horizon with a risk-neutral decision-maker. We then investigate the effect of an increase in investment risk on the demand for liquidity a la Jones and Ostroy. In particular, we prove that the opitmal strategy exists, that it has a reservation property, and that the reservation value increases when investment risk increases in the sense of a mean-preserving spread. While the effect of a mean-preserving spread on the reservation value is unambiguous, its e ect on money demand is ambiguous. We then provide conditions on increasing investment risk under which money demand unambiguously increases.