Research Programs: Technology and Innovation

Empirical Studies on the International Comparison of Open Innovation

Project Leader/Sub-Leader

MOTOHASHI Kazuyuki

MOTOHASHI Kazuyuki (Faculty Fellow)

Leader

Overview

Although the innovation system in Japan has been said to be characterized by the "not invented here" (NIH) attitude primarily taken by large companies, a shift to open innovation involving external collaboration is becoming increasingly important given technological progress and more intense global competition. Japanese companies, however, are said to be still lagging behind their U.S. and European counterparts in their efforts for open innovation. On the other hand, external collaboration for innovation takes different forms by industries. For example, while collaboration in the pharmaceutical industry centers on the introduction and derivation of required compounds, forming an innovation ecosystem is important in the electronics industry with a greater complexity in its product and business areas. Furthermore, in order to create a network-type innovation system involving active external collaborations, such issues are also important as facilitating industry-academia collaboration and fostering startup companies that serve to bridge the "valley of death" (between basic research and commercialization). This project will illuminate the current state and problems of open innovation in Japan to derive policy implications through international comparisons with the United States and other countries in light of characteristics of innovation in different technological areas and lines of business.

July 4, 2011 - March 31, 2013

Major Research Results

2013

RIETI Discussion Papers

2012

RIETI Discussion Papers

RIETI Policy Discussion Papers