EFFECTS OF REGIONAL COOPERATION AMONG SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED FIRMS ON THEIR GROWTH IN JAPANESE INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS

We examine the effects of regional inter‐firm cooperation on firm growth by estimating the firm growth function, using the data of a questionnaire survey for three major industrial clusters in Japan, namely, Tama, Kinki and Hokkaido. We focus on the specific content of cooperative activities for two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of urban and regional development studies 2006-11, Vol.18 (3), p.209-228
Main Authors: Arita, Tomokazu, Fujita, Masahisa, Kameyama, Yoshihiro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Commercialization
Cooperation
Industrial areas
Industrial policy
Japan
R&D
Regional cooperation
Research & development
Research and development
Small & medium sized enterprises-SME
Small and medium sized enterprises
Studies
Survey data
Urban agglomeration
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Summary:We examine the effects of regional inter‐firm cooperation on firm growth by estimating the firm growth function, using the data of a questionnaire survey for three major industrial clusters in Japan, namely, Tama, Kinki and Hokkaido. We focus on the specific content of cooperative activities for two aspects: that is, three production stages of R&D, commercialization, and marketing for cooperation and different types of alliance partners. The findings for our study areas demonstrate: i) vertical cooperation, the most prevalent with suppliers and customers, does not contribute to firm growth; ii) the clusters do not enjoy “urbanization economies arising from agglomerating a variety of different industrial sectors”; iii) the alliances with “universities” and “cross‐industry exchange organizations” show positive effects on firm growth; and iv) both contributions and limitations are identified for the cluster‐promotion policies in Japan.
ISSN:0917-0553
1467-940X
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-940X.2006.00122.x