Institutions, organizations, and Techno-Governance for innovation

Abstract

How do we analyze the complex process of the decline and struggle for the survival of Japanese high-tech companies? Technological innovation itself is an important determinant of changes, but that is only a segment of a picture that covers a complex process involving diverse actors-not only companies, but also national and regional governments and such technology-supporting organizations (TSOs) as universities and technical colleges; associations; research consortia; national, regional and local technical institutes; consulting firms; and private contract laboratories. These actors develop a certain pattern of interaction in each country while drastic changes take place not only in environments, such as the competitive market, but also in institutions that function to restrict actors' behavior. In this chapter, I shall try to develop a framework of analysis that can comprehensively incorporate the aforementioned elements, reviewing some of the relevant theories © 2006 Yoshitaka Okada.