INNOVATION IN EAST ASIA: The Challenge to Japan - Hardcover

Hobday, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1858980178 ISBN 13: 9781858980171

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing, 1995

Synopsis

Innovation in East Asia shows how ''latecomer'' firms from Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore caught up technologically with Japan and learned to innovate. Michael Hobday examines the technology acquisition strategies of these firms, their strengths and weaknesses, and the origin and extent of latecomer innovation in the region.

A series of detailed case studies are used not only to show how individual companies developed, but also how large groups of firms formed industrial clusters from behind the technology frontier. Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore have emerged as dynamic and distinct forces for growth and innovation. Increasingly the competitive challenge for Japan comes from these countries rather than from Europe and America. The book extends conventional innovation theory to develop an analytical framework for understanding the strengths, weaknesses and future prospects of latecomer firms.

The book will be welcomed by academics, policymakers, students, government bodies and companies concerned with the rise of East Asia. It will be of particular interest to countries facing the competitive challenge of East Asia (the US and Europe) as well as Japan and the individual countries of the Asian region.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Hobday, Visiting Professor, CENTRIM, University of Brighton, UK

Review

Hobday provides an extraordinary interesting blow-by-blow account of how East Asian firms developed their present formidable competencies in electronics technology. . . . he also provides a fascinatingly detailed account of a large number of East Asian companies that currently are quite sophisticated in electronics. --R. Nelson, Research Policy

This is a well-written and important book which should be required reading for anyone wishing to understand the pattern of advantage in electronics, the rise of East Asia, and the process of technological catch-up for latecomer countries. --Andrew Tylecote, Prometheus

Innovation in East Asia tackles the complex but previously neglected issue of technology acquisition in a clear, concise and rigorous analytical manner. It represents the first substantive study of the critical role of technology in the growth performance of the Asian NICs and provides useful insights into the origins of East Asian economic success. --Robert Read, Business History

Edition details

• Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1858980178
• ISBN 13: 9781858980171
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240