Knowledge spillover from university research before the national innovation system reform in Japan: localisation, mechanisms, and intermediaries

Nobuya Fukugawa 기술경영경제학회 2016 ASIAN JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION Vol.24 No.1

This study examines whether and how university knowledge affected industry R&D in theperiod when university –industry collaborations encountered institutional barriers. Panelestimation of the regional knowledge production function (1983 –1996) revealed thatuniversity research had localised impacts on industrial innovations, measured by patentsfiled by the Japanese firms, with a five-year lag. University –industry joint research did notact as a conduit of university spillover, which suggests that informal channels, such asvoluntary transfer of academic inventions in return to donation, worked in the pre-reformperiod. Intermediaries as a part of regional innovation policy, represented as local publictechnology centres, exerted a positive impact on industrial innovations in the region. Theirimmediate impacts suggest the contribution of technology diffusion, such as technicalconsultation, that help small local firms solve current problems while their far-reachingimpacts suggest the importance of knowledge creation, such as own research.

Regular Papers : Does Regional Innovation Policy Match Regional Innovation System?: The Case of Local Public Technology Centers in Japan

( Nobuya Fukugawa ) 한국중소기업학회 2011 中小企業硏究 Vol.33 No.2

[Background] Local public technology centers, administrated by the prefectural and municipal government, have engaged in technological support for small local firms. The initiation of this regional innovation policy dates back to the modern economic growth in the 1880s. Local public technology centers offer various kinds of technological services such as testing, inspection, usage of experimental equipments, workshops for technology diffusion, technological consultation, funded research and joint research. They also conduct their own research, patent inventions and license out their patents chiefly to small local firms. Recently two structural changes forced local public technology centers to redefine their strategies in regional innovation systems. First, after a prolonged recession in the 1990s, the local authorities became highly cost-conscious, which led them to cut centers` budgets and to evaluate them more rigorously. Second, the reform of national innovation systems, symbolized by the incorporation of national universities in 2004, made knowledge interactions between small local firms and national universities more active, which has created a new source of knowledge for small local firms that performed R&D. [Purpose] Under such circumstances, local public technology centers are required to establish their own strategies that match the characteristics of regional innovation systems. Since local public technology centers are administrated by local authorities, their strategy development represents regional innovation policy. Their strategies are predicted to be most effective when they are developed in accordance with the characteristics of regional innovation systems. Using a comprehensive database on local public technology centers, this study aims to quantitatively examine whether regional innovation policy represented as centers` resource allocation strategies during 2000 and 2008 is contingent on, or regardless of, the characteristics of regional innovation systems. [Structure] First, I established the model to describe the characteristics of regional innovation systems. The model conceptualizes the local market for public technological services, such as technological consultation, workshops for diffusion of new technologies, material inspection, and joint research, from demand-side and supply-side perspectives. Demand-side factors are represented as the absorptive capacity of small local firms. Regions with more R&D-active small firms would exhibit more needs for high-quality public knowledge and more interactive channels, such as joint research, for knowledge transfer. Supply-side factors are represented as the activeness of national universities in the region to interact with small local firms via joint research. Regions with a national university willing to interact with small local firms would require local public technology centers to establish distinct strategies that do not overlap with the universities` role in the local market for public technological services. Second, I identified two key strategies that characterize technology transfer channels offered by local public technology centers. Based on factor analysis, various technological services provided by centers were integrated into two factors: the tendency to enhance the centers` own research capabilities; and the tendency to directly support small local firms. Then, I developed theoretical predictions about the relationships between regional innovation policy represented as resource allocation strategies of the centers and the characteristics of regional innovation systems where the center is located. Third, using a comprehensive dataset of local public technology centers, a statistical analysis was conducted to test whether centers` strategies were developed so that they would match the characteristics of regional innovation systems. [Method] Based on the model that describes the characteristics of regional innovation systems, I introduced a proxy variable for demand-side factors of the local market for public technological services, i.e., the ratio of R&D-active small firms to the whole small firms in the region. A proxy variable for supply-side factors was the ratio of joint research projects between small local firms and national universities to all joint research projects conducted by national universities in the region. Two proxy variables were enabled to draw a scatter chart, where vertical axis denotes demand-side factors and horizontal axis denotes supply-side factors, representing the location of the 47 local authorities in Japan. [Result] Four quadrants were identified by dividing a scatter chart by introducing averages of demand- and supply-side factors in the chart. For instance, a region (prefecture) in Quadrant II has small local firms with above-average absorptive capacity while universities in that region have below-average activity in knowledge interactions with small local firms. This implies that in such region, local public technology centers with high-quality technological knowledge can act as a significant spillover pool for small R&D-intensive firms in that region. An analysis of variance was conducted to test whether local public technology centers` strategies adopted between 2000 and 2008 aligned with the regional environmental characteristics identified as four quadrants. The results show that there is no statistically significant difference in centers` resource allocation strategies according to the characteristics of regional innovation systems. This implies that local public technology centers` resources may not have been fully utilized as an engine for regional economic development. [Contributions] Theoretical and policy implications derived from empirical results are as follows. First, based on the previous literature on regional knowledge spillovers, a model to describe the characteristics of regional innovation systems was developed. The model pictures the local market for public technological services from demand-side and supply-side perspectives. Linked to two distinct centers` strategies identified by factor analysis, this model enables us to infer theoretical relationships between regional innovation policy represented as resource allocation strategies of local public technology centers and the characteristics of regional innovation systems, which can be quantitatively examined. The newly developed model to understand regional innovation systems and empirical approach to examine the relationships between regional innovation policy and regional innovation systems can be applied to the assessment of regional innovation policy in other geographies. This constitutes the strength of the study. Second, with a comprehensive dataset of the centers, the aforementioned approach enabled us to quantitatively evaluate regional innovation policy on local public technology centers for the first time. This makes a clear contrast to the existing studies on local public technology centers based on case studies, where the generality of their implications are limited. Although local public technology centers have been considered to play an important role in regional economic development, the results suggest that they need to make their strategies more efficient so that their resources will be allocated in concord with the characteristics of the regional innovation system. The policy implications of this study are that local authorities and local public technology centers should precisely recognize their relative advantage in the region. Then it would be possible for them to rebuild guidelines that would help local public technology centers to contribute to the regional economic development in a more relevant manner.

Traffic Control for ATM Networks

Nobuya Arakawa,Masami Hagio,Akira Noiri,Hiroshi Kimura 대한전자공학회 1990 JC-CNSS : Joint Conference on Communications, Netw Vol.3 No.-

The clinical outcomes of infraspinatus rotational transfer for irreparable posterosuperior rotator cuff tears: a preliminary report

Harada, Nobuya,Ishitani, Eiichi,Gotoh, Masafumi,Shiba, Naoto Korean Shoulder and Elbow Society 2022 대한견주관절의학회지 Vol.25 No.3

Background: This study aimed to examine the preliminary clinical results of the infraspinatus rotational transfer procedure for irreparable posterosuperior rotator cuff tears. Methods: This study included 34 patients (mean age, 68.4 years). Their mean tear width and length measurements were 50.9 mm and 50.6 mm, respectively. The functional outcomes, including physician-determined and patient-reported scores, were evaluated before and at 1 year after surgery. The structural outcomes determined using the magnetic resonance imaging examination results were also assessed. Results: The clinical scores significantly improved after surgery compared with the scores before surgery: the Constant-Murley score (53.3±21.1 to 76.8±10.5), University of California at Los Angeles Shoulder score (15.6±3.6 to 27.8±6.7), American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Shoulder score (51.8±18.3 to 89.1±13.5), and WORC score (925.0±436.8 to 480.3±373.2) (all p<0.001). Postoperative re-tears were noted in two patients (5.9%). Conclusions: One year postoperatively, the patient's clinical scores significantly improved, with a re-tear rate of 5.9%.

한국후지제록스의 변신전략

다카스기 노부야 漢陽大學校 産業經營硏究所 2000 産業經營硏究 Vol.12 No.-

Virtual LAN Realization on an ATM Connectionless Public Network

Jiro Asoh,Nobuya Arakawa,Hiroyasu Mizuno,Kuniaki Kishino 한국통신학회 1995 Asia-Pacific Conference on Communications Vol.2 No.1

Aquaporin 1 expression in tissues of canines possessing inherited high K+ erythrocytes

Hideharu Ochiai,Nobuya Hishiyama,Shin Hisamatsu,Nobuyuki Kanemaki 대한수의학회 2008 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.9 No.2

We investigated the expression of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) in tissues from canines with an inherited anomaly that causes their erythrocytes to have high K+. Northern blot analysis revealed abundant AQP1 expression in lung and kidney, though little expression was found in spleen. Using anti-C-terminus for dog AQP1, abundant expression was shown in kidney, trachea, and eye, but little expression was shown in pancreas and cerebrum, indicating that AQP1 expression in canine tissues is similar to that noted in other mammals. We investigated the expression of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) in tissues from canines with an inherited anomaly that causes their erythrocytes to have high K+. Northern blot analysis revealed abundant AQP1 expression in lung and kidney, though little expression was found in spleen. Using anti-C-terminus for dog AQP1, abundant expression was shown in kidney, trachea, and eye, but little expression was shown in pancreas and cerebrum, indicating that AQP1 expression in canine tissues is similar to that noted in other mammals.

A FAULT DIAGNOSIS METHOD FOR THE BATCHER NETWORK

Hiroaki Karasawa,Hideharu Amano,Nobuya Arkawa 대한전자공학회 1989 JTC-CSCC : Joint Technical Conference on Circuits Vol.- No.-

RADIO - CONTROLLED HELICOPTER USE FOR DIRECT SEEDING RICE PADDY ; FIELD OPERATIONS AND ESTIMATION

Hisashi HORIO,Yasumasa HIROSE,Nobuya KOBAYASHI,Noriyoshi MATSUI 한국농업기계학회 1996 ICAMPE 요약집 Vol.3 No.-

Pharmacokinetic Study of Compound K in Japanese Subjects After Ingestion of Panax ginseng Fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei A221 Reveals Significant Increase of Absorption into Blood

Hiroyuki Fukami,Taro Ueda,Nobuya Matsuoka 한국식품영양과학회 2019 Journal of medicinal food Vol.22 No.3

Compound K (CK) is a metabolite of a saponin in Panax ginseng, formed from ginsenoside, a triterpenoid glycoside, by human intestinal bacteria. Lactobacillus paracasei A221 isolated from fermented food can hydrolyze (deglycosylate) the main ginsenoside, ginsenoside Rb1, and generate CK. However, the pharmacokinetics of L. paracasei A221 fermented ginseng (FG) and nonfermented ginseng (NFG) have not been investigated so far. The aim of this study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of CK after oral administration of single doses of FG and NFG in healthy Japanese adults. An open-label, randomized, single-dose, two-period, crossover study was conducted in 12 Japanese healthy volunteers (five men and seven women, aged 40–60 years). All subjects were equally allocated into two groups and administered tablets containing FG or NFG. Until 24 h after the administration, blood samples were sequentially collected, plasma concentrations of CK were measured, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. We also expected restoration of decreased testosterone level as one of the beneficial effects of FG and measured plasma total testosterone concentrations in male volunteers. The means of Tmax, Cmax, and area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) were significantly different between the two groups. In the FG group, AUC0–12h (ng h/mL) and AUC0–24h (ng h/mL) were, respectively, 58.3- and 17.5-fold higher than those in the NFG group. Moreover, mean testosterone concentration in the FG group significantly increased 24 h after administration. These results showed that the main ginsenoside metabolite of ginseng, CK, produced by L. paracaseiA221 has potential utility in health maintenance in healthy middle-aged and old Japanese adults.