Bridging developmental state and entrepreneurial state theory: A typology of startup policies’ incumbent firm benefits

Abstract

Developmental state literature primarily focuses on the state’s (evolving) direct relationship with large incumbent firms. This article bridges developmental state and entrepreneurial state theories by employing an open innovation logic. We study Japan (1991-2021) as an archetypal developmental state; we hand coded 83 startup policies and a corpus of media coverage of the policies’ launch events and performance for how policymakers speak about ways in which startup policies strive to involve and benefit incumbent firms. Our typology of the strategic “access” benefits for incumbent firms in startup policies are: (1) access to innovative capacity, ideas and (2) access to talent.