Table of Contents

Part 1 Big Tree with Thick Trunk and its Fruits.- 1 Research Aim and Framework.- 2 Theoretical Background: General Purpose Technology, Pattern of Innovation, and Spin-out.- 3 Data.- 4 Technological Characteristics of Laser and Laser Diode.- Part 2 R&D and Market Competition of Laser Diodes in the U.S. and Japan.- 5 Birth of the Laser Diode: It All Started in the U.S.- 6 Continuous Wave Operation at Room Temperature and Long Operating Life: Catch Up of the Japanese Firms.- 7 Competition over Communications: Long-Wavelength Laser Diode.- 8 Aiming for a New Market: From CD to DVD.- 9 From Red to Blue: Competition for Shorter Wavelengths.- 10 Strategic Behaviors of Japanese Firms on the Technological Trajectory.- 11 Changes in the Industrial Organization: Rise of Spin-Outs.- Part 3 Sub-Market Development and Disappearing Technological Trajectory: Patterns of Innovation in the U.S. and Japan.- 12 Patterns of Spin-Outs and Innovation.- 13 Conclusion.- Appendices.- References.- SubjectIndex.- Name Index.

About the Author

Hiroshi Shimizu is a professor at the Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University. Dr. Shimizu received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2007. After postdoctoral work at Technische Universiteit Eindhoven in 2007-2008, he joined Hitotsubashi University, Institute of Innovation Research (IIR) in 2008. He served as a professor at the IIR between 2011 and 2019. His research interests include, Employee Startups, General Purpose Technology, Innovation Patterns, and Competitive Strategy. He has published in journals including Research Policy, Business History Review, and Journal of Evolutionary Economics. 

His Japanese language book Jieneraru Pāpasu Tekunorojī no Inobueshon (Innovations in General Purpose Technology) (Yuhikaku Publishing Co.,Ltd.) won the 59th Nikkei Prize for Excellent Books in Economic Science 2016 by The Japan Center for Economic Research. The English translation of this book General Purpose Technology, Spin-Out, and Innovation - Technological Development of Laser Diodes in the United States and Japan (Springer, 2019) was awarded the 2020 Schumpeter Prize from The International Schumpeter Society.