Inter-organizational Collaboration in Semiconductor Laser Technology in the U.S. and Japan: University-Industry Relation

This paper investigates inter-organizational collaboration in semiconductor laser technology in the U.S. and Japan. It focuses on university-industry relations in particular. As a rule, U.S. organizations have been more involved in inter-organizational collaboration than Japanese organizations. The topic of inter-organizational collaboration in semiconductor laser technology has appeared in the journal Applied Physics Letters, which highlighted different patterns in inter-organizational collaboration between the U.S. and Japan. The article discussed institutional settings that lay behind the differences in university-industry relations. It also revealed that entrepreneurial startups play an important role in inter-organizational collaboration. With renewed appreciation of the necessity of university-firm collaboration in promoting science and technology, legal institutions in Japan have been modified to promote university-industry collaboration.