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This study looks at the state of collaboration in scientific research between universities and industries in Japan by measuring the level of coauthorship of academic publications. The analysis is based on data retrieved from the databases of the National Citation Report for Japan, which was produced by Thomson Scientific (ISI) and included papers published from 1981 to 2003, and the Citation Database for Japanese Papers, which was produced by the National Institute of Informatics, Japan, and included papers published from 1995 to 2004. It is revealed that there is a large 'perception gap' between industries and universities concerning their collaborations. The situation, trends and characteristics of industry-university collaborations are investigated and discussed from international and national perspectives. The disciplinary and regional differences in such collaborations are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the division of Japanese conservatives into two political parties in the early post‐war period in order to understand why one party chose to enter a coalition government led by the Japanese Socialist Party in 1947 while the other refused. It argues that Japanese conservatives were divided between those who favoured heavy industry and state involvement in the solution of social and economic problems, and those who focused on the defence of the rural and traditional status quo. The war had augmented this division and moved the industrializing conservatives closer to the Socialists. This commonality of interests continued after the war and formed the political basis for an industrial–statist conservative alliance with the Socialists, which led to the formation of a centre–left coalition government in 1947. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

North–South competition quality Analyzing a new database that makes it possible to disaggregate trade flows across many countries according to unit values, we show that international specialization in terms of quality within industries and product categories plays an important role in the dynamics of North–South competition. The different specialization of countries at different levels of development within products and across varieties is mirrored in the recent shifts in world market shares, which are very different across quality segments: the South is not gaining market share in high-value portions of trade pattern. In this respect Europe's specialization pattern appears to be different from that of the US and Japan, and may allow it to better resist the competitive pressure of the South. — Lionel Fontagné, Guillaume Gaulier and Soledad Zignago [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational prestige and earnings, together with 'over-' or 'underreward' in these respects relative to socio-demographic characteristics of the workforce, are used to aggregate Australian and Japanese industries into two economic sectors. The industrial structure of the sectors and the detailed socio-economic achievement patterns in different sectors in the two countries are subsequently analysed. In both countries, social services constitute the core of the first sector; however, this sector also contains most modern manufacturing industries in Japan, and agriculture in Australia. The sectors differ not only in their defining variables but also in the configurations of various income and prestige determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using industrial firms from the United States, German, and Japan, we examine the effect of bank power on cash holdings. We show that Japanese firms hold more cash than U.S. or German firms. We also document that Japanese cash balances are affected by the monopoly power of banks. During periods with powerful banks, firms' high cash holdings are consistent with banks extracting rents. When banks weakened, Japanese cash levels became more like U.S. firms. We conclude that strong Japanese banks persuade firms to hold large cash balances. This is contrary to widely held beliefs about the Japanese governance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of mounting pressure to reduce state intervention in the marketplace, Japanese bureaucrats have managed to preserve threatened government institutions such as administrative and financial ‘guidance’. They have done so by promoting the regionalization, or Asianization, of Japanese industry, dispensing advice and capital both to domestic manufacturers investing in the region and to host states in Asia that regulate such investment. Japan's experience suggests that, under certain conditions, regionalization may exert a force that runs counter to globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]