This book is a collaborative effort by researchers from Japan, Italy, and the US which seeks to explore the question of why firms congregate in certain regions. The studies in the book present real examples of industrial clusters, adding anecdotal evidence to the emerging theory of economic...

This study focuses on the role of human factors in the innovation processes of firms in four member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), i.e., Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Firms are required first to obtain new information related to innovation and...

Agglomeration in Asia -- The relationship between Toyota and its parts suppliers in the age of information and globalization : concentration vs. dispersion / Masatsugu Tsuji -- Iron town cluster : Yawata, its glory, decline and rebirth / Mitsuhiro Kagami -- Information technology and economic...

This paper aims to specify factors promoting the 3G mobile in Japan. The factors are represented by value-added services such as FeliCa, which enables e-payment, data roaming services, and full music downloads. Panel data from the three main carriers, which occupy over 90% of the Japanese mobile...

One of the common features of innovative SMEs identified from our previous surveys and in-depth interviews is innovation capability accumulated inside the firm, which enables them to create new products which meet customer needs and to cooperate with the other firms. The factors that SMEs...

The mobile market has been transforming quickly all over the world particularly caused by the diffusion of smartphones, and this study attempts to examine the effect of smartphones to the Japanese mobile phone market. Japan has so far the well-developed 3G mobile phone in terms of not only the...

Providing nationwide deployment of broadband services has become an important national agenda. The U.S. announced a National Broadband Plan and EU a Digital Agenda for Europe, both of which aim at providing access to 100 Mbps broadband services by 2020 to substantial numbers of households. The...

ICT is expected to play an important role for innovations in Japanese SMEs. In this paper, how ICT use promotes innovation is clarified. In addition, what kind of business strategy SMEs should follow is attempted to achieve innovation by focusing on the behavior of the top management as well as...

In accordance with the development of broadband services, interests are focused on the deployment of optical fiber and various reports and researches are published, including Next Generation Connectivity by the Berkman Center, Harvard University, and Indicators of Broadband Coverage by OECD....