TECHNOLOGY, TRANSACTION COSTS, AND THE DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION: THE EVOLUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND JAPANESE DRAM INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INDUSTRIES (PUBLIC POLICY, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS).

摘要

Record trade deficits, slumping productivity and increasing awareness of the innovative capabilities of our economic partners has fueled concern over the international competitiveness of industry in the United States. Widespread debate has arisen about the causes and remedies for these trends. The focus of this dissertation is the interaction between the diffusion of technological innovations, market structure and public policy. The central thesis is that there is a reciprocal relationship between the characteristics of technological innovations and market structure. Public policy is treated as an exogenous variable. Technology, market structure and public policy are linked to one another through their influence on the information and financial resources needed for innovation.;The central thesis is supported: a reciprocal relationship exists between technological innovations and market structure. The four hypotheses also receive support. Technological innovations in the DRAM industry are shown to develop along defined paths, called technological envelopes. To progress along these technological envelopes requires more informational and financial resources in order to maintain the innovation process. This occasions changes in market structures which affects the supply and demand of these required resources. Firms in the United States and Japan are found to increase in size and degree of vertical integration. The market is found to be less concentrated with each innovation, however, and the rate of diffusion declines with each innovation. Public policy instruments which altered both the informational and financial resources are found to affect the innovation process while policies that affect only one of the resources are found to have no effect. Public policies examined are the VLSI Cooperative Research Project for Japan and the increase in capital gains tax for the United States.;Four hypotheses are derived and tested with data collected on the Japanese and United States DRAM integrated circuit industries. Quantitative archival data were gleaned from published reports and articles and were analyzed using a variety of statistical techniques. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews with key people in the Japanese and United States governments and industries. This data was used to provide insights into the findings derived from the analyses of the quantitative data.