HIGH-TECHNOLOGY RESTRUCTURING IN THE USA AND JAPAN

In this paper, the comparative responses of the USA and Japan to the rise of new high-technology industries are examined. The United States pattern mainly revolves around the rise of high-technology districts like Silicon Valley and Route 128 which comprise dense networks of small entrepreneurial firms and other related institutions. The Japanese approach to restructuring is contrasted as one of "structured flexibility' where large corporations perform important "system governance' functions in the linking of manufacturing and innovation and act as focal points in just-in-time production complexes. Japan's pattern of "structured flexibility' overcomes many of the limitations of high-technology organization in the USA. -from Authors