日本产业集群的演化与结构【外文翻译】.doc

本科毕业论文外文翻译
题目:The Evolution and Structure of Industrial Clusters in Japan
出处: Small Business Economics
作者: Hideki Yamawaki
译文:
ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on two aspects of the evolution and structure of clusters in Japan, namely, what gives rise to clusters and what benefits are acquired by small firms from participating in clusters. The determinants of clustering are discussed by way of a review of the history of 14 industrial clusters which cover a wide range of industries and
locations in Japan. It is noted that different factors dominate in different cases. Among the more important ones are the existence of leading large firms, the availability of a pooled labor market, and the presence of public research and testing facilities. The four most important benefits from clusters reported by small firms are : (i) specialization; (ii) ease of procurement; (iii) diffusion of technology, and (iv) public policy support. Access to skilled workers is not reported to be a significant benefit. This may be explained by the fact that the dominant source of skills acquisition among Japanese workers is on-the-job training and such skills may be too firmspecific to be useful to others, even within a geographically concentrated cluster.
1. Introduction
It is a well established fact that Japan hosts the largest number of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) among industrialized countries. When SMEs are broadly defined as those enterprises with fewer than 300 employees or less than Yen 100 million in capital, more than 99 percent of all enterprises in Japanese manufacturing were classified as SMEs in 1994. Further,67 percent of total employees in manufacturing worked for SMEs in
An equally important feature of Japan’s anization is that Japan’s SMEs often form clusters. According to the 1996 survey of the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, a total of 537 clusters are reported to exist throughout Japan. While the economic significance of these clusters
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