Norio Tokumaru – författare

This book looks at two-stage industrial cluster theory and new innovation models in view of IT-ization and servitization of products. The formation of industrial clusters such as export processing zones and special economic zones has been the preferred mechanism for developing countries to boost their industrial development and export performance for the last several decades. Existing literature related to Development Economics cited numerous benefits of industrial clusters and several countries have reaped such benefits. The book goes beyond formation of traditional industrial clusters. It promotes the idea of formation of two-stage clusters.

The book further stresses on new innovation models. The ideas are promoted based on the empirical evidence of Chinese and Taiwanese firms in consumer electronics and automobile sectors. Finally, the book looks at firm strategies in new business environment which is dominated by servitization of industrial products. It argues for firms to integrate manufacturing and services to a great extent. To substantiate the arguments, empirical evidence comes from India, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. The study further finds evidence, perhaps for the first time that innovation and knowledge acquisition strategies are influenced not only by size of firms but also vary with market preferences.

This book looks at two-stage industrial cluster theory and new innovation models in view of IT-ization and servitization of products. The formation of industrial clusters such as export processing zones and special economic zones has been the preferred mechanism for developing countries to boost their industrial development and export performance for the last several decades. Existing literature related to Development Economics cited numerous benefits of industrial clusters and several countries have reaped such benefits. The book goes beyond formation of traditional industrial clusters. It promotes the idea of formation of two-stage clusters.

The book further stresses on new innovation models. The ideas are promoted based on the empirical evidence of Chinese and Taiwanese firms in consumer electronics and automobile sectors. Finally, the book looks at firm strategies in new business environment which is dominated by servitization of industrial products. It argues for firms to integrate manufacturing and services to a great extent. To substantiate the arguments, empirical evidence comes from India, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. The study further finds evidence, perhaps for the first time that innovation and knowledge acquisition strategies are influenced not only by size of firms but also vary with market preferences.

This book analyses the changes of welfare states, examining their sustainability enabled by innovative adaptations. On the basis of evolutionary social sciences, the authors understand the welfare states as complex adaptive systems, in which the actors’ perceptions, strategies and behaviours change in adaptive manners, which results in institutional changes. From this perspective, the dynamics of Nordic welfare states, mainly Finland as the Nordic welfare state under the greatest pressure to adapt, is analysed from the multiple perspectives of history, politics, economics and social policy. Through these analyses, the authors show that the long-term changes in welfare states can be creative evolutionary processes in which the experiences, cognitive frameworks, resources and capacities of different actors allow for diverse responses and, as a result of interaction, diverse outcomes. The book also illustrates the historical processes of welfare states’ formation that have created the human and social resources and capabilities that enable innovative responses today.