Koichiro Kimura

Institute of Developing Economies - Japan External Trade Organization

This study examines the characteristics of similar and differentiated technologies in an industry to investigate firms’ technology accumulation patterns. Cosine similarity compares technology positions generated by the patent applications of two major Chinese firms in the robot cleaner industry. The analysis shows that as the number of patent appli...

Firms not only differentiate their products to increase their market power but also imitate the successful product characteristics of their competitors to increase their market power or neutralize that of their competitors. Although many studies have been conducted on differentiation and imitation, the balance of product similarities and difference...

This study measures the technological distance between firms within and across industries as a case study of Chinese firms to investigate firms’ technology accumulation patterns. Specifically, cosine similarity is used to compare the technology positions generated by the patent applications of Chinese firms. The analysis shows that as the number of...

Is the distance between the product characteristics of firms in an industry getting closer or not in competition? Although many studies have been conducted on differentiation to get farther and imitation to get closer, neither has been analyzed within the same framework. Therefore, this study introduces the concept of imitation into a Hoteling mode...

This study analyses how firms sharpen technological specialization as they develop technologies. We investigate the technological positions of firms in the Chinese robotics industry, which has been rapidly growing in recent years. Using patent information for technological fields that firms focus on, firstly, we show that the technological position...

Firms need to choose a competitive technology position relative to the choices of their competitors. Therefore, firms change their technological similarity with their competitors through differentiation and learning. Although many studies on similarity have been accumulated, most focus on knowledge spillover among similar industries or firms. There...

Firms must choose which technologies or technological fields to focus on relative to their competitors when building their competitive technology positions. To examine the similarities of firms in terms of their technological fields, we conduct a case study on the similarities between a fast-growing Chinese robotics firm and a Japanese first-mover...

We analyze the formation of technological capabilities of major Chinese home appliance and consumer electronics manufacturers in comparison to the telecommunication equipment manufacturers and hardware start-ups in the electronics industry. To achieve this, we focus on the external business environment of major home appliance and consumer electroni...

We compare the evolution of the mobile phone and electric two-wheeler sectors in China. In the first decade of the twenty-first century, Chinese firms have used technologies bundled into platforms to meet the needs of low-income Chinese consumers. The possibilities of downstream innovation opened up by platforms were not pursued. This paper shows h...

Outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from developing countries is increasing.1 According to UNCTAD (2001, 2012), the ratio of outward FDI from developing countries to total outward FDI in the world was just 8.7 percent in 2000, but rapidly rose to 26.9 percent in 2011. Traditionally, FDI investors came exclusively from developed countries, but t...

This chapter verifies that a technology gap between indigenous and foreign firms exists.1 As stated in the previous chapters, if technologies diffuse from developed countries to developing ones through international economic activities, then globalization will make a positive impact on developing countries and their firms. On the other hand, if tec...

This chapter first reviews the object of this book—development of China’s electronics industry in the midst of globalization. The study aims to elucidate the growth mechanism of indigenous firms under the globalization regime. Taking up China’s electronics industry as a representative case to be studied in this context turns out to be correct as we...

Numerous studies on the influence of globalization on developing countries and their firms have already been con­ducted in international economics and related research fields, and, as we will see in this chapter, a variety of viewpoints have been expressed on this influence. There, however, still remain questions to be answered. One of these questi...

This study has developed the diversification mechanism for indigenous firms under competition with foreign firms. As the precondition of diversification in organization, this study has verified that technologies have not always diffused to China’s electronics industry. To do it, Chapter 3 has analyzed whether or not inward foreign direct investment...

In this chapter, we develop a model of the diversification mechanism presented in the previous chapter to generalize the experience in China’s mobile phone handset industry.1 We have in detail analyzed the make-or-buy decisions of Chinese handset manufacturers through a decade. The case study can help us understand the complicated relationship amon...

How do indigenous firms in developing countries achieve growth when they confront a technology gap between themselves and foreign firms from developed countries?1 We attempt to answer the question by examining the behavior of Chinâs mobile phone handset firms, which have managed to compensate for the technology gap by differentiating their organiza...

The Growth of Chinese Electronics Firms outlines the way firms grow in China at an organizational level. Kimura uses China’s electronics industry as a case study for measuring technology-fuelled growth and provides a way to understand diversified the growth process systematically.

Does foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries affect the growth of local firms in host countries? Using a dataset of 38 sectors in China's electrical and electronics industry, in this paper, we analyze whether FDI has a positive effect on local firms, with technology spillovers, added value and increasing total factor productivity,...

We have examined the way in which local firms in China's handset industry, confronted with a technology gap, have achieved growth, using the concept of boundaries of the firm. Chinese local firms have lacked technology, and have therefore turned to outside firms for development, design, and manufacturing in some cases. On the other hand, they thems...

Growing countries do not necessarily follow the same industrial development process, despite sharing similar starting points. China and India have both been growing remarkably under gradual economic liberalization since the 1980s; however, they show a significant contrast in industrial development processes. As we see later, the role of secondary i...

We have examined the way in which local Chinese firms confronted with a technology gap have achieved growth, using the Chinese handset industry as a case study. Chinese local firms have lacked technology, and have therefore turned to outside firms for development, design, and manufacturing, while they themselves have focused on sales and marketing,...

Economic backwardness often influences the growth of firms in developing countries. In this paper, we investigate the growth conditions and paths available for latecomers competing with first movers. Employing the concepts of boundaries of the firm and the disadvantage of backwardness, we present a case study of China's mobile handset industry and...

This chapter discusses the progress of transition in financial systems and economic stabilities in East Asian countries in comparison with those of Eastern Europe and the CIS. One of the purposes of transition is to raise the general economic level by transforming the social system from a planned economy to a market-based one. Clearly, the financia...

We analyze diversification of boundaries of local firms in developing countries under the economic globalization. The globalization has an aspect of homogenization of the world economy, but also has another aspect of diversification through international economic activities. Focusing on boundary-level of the firm, this article shows that the divers...