Cooperative R&D in government laboratories: comparing the US and Japan

Abstract

Cooperative technology policy activities of US and Japanese government laboratories are compared to determine the extent, structural patterns, motives, and consequences of cooperative R&D. Based on survey data from US federal laboratories and Japanese national laboratories, the study shows that government laboratories of the respective nations are quite similar with regard to laboratory missions and motives for cooperative R&D. But the labs' cooperative R&D activities diverge in several ways. First, compared to Japanese government labs, US government labs have, on average, more than twice as many cooperative R&D agreements. However, Japanese labs have a higher percentage of agreements with industry and nonprofit organizations, and with foreign organizations. US laboratories with a larger number of cooperative R&D agreements have a larger number of patents and somewhat higher ratings of technology transfer effectiveness. Japanese labs with a larger number of R&D agreements also have more patents but lower ratings of technology transfer effectiveness. Finally, lab directors in the US and Japan diverge considerably in their assessments of the contribution of cooperative R&D to the effectiveness of various lab research missions.