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Entrepreneurial Ability and Market Selection in an Infant Industry: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Atsushi Ohyama

    (University of Chicago)

  • Serguey Braguinsky

    (SUNY Buffalo)

  • Kevin M. Murphy

    (University of Chicago)

Abstract

In this paper we develop a new insight into the process of learning in an infant industry, in a setting where entrepreneurs are differentiated by talent. The learning rate depends on the quality of ideas, not on the scale of the industry, and a competitive open economy regime may furnish a better environment for innovation-led industrial growth even in the presence of industry-wide increasing returns to scale. Competitive market selection of ablest entrepreneurs forms a crucial condition for successful industrialization. The model is tested against the evidence of the industrial revolution in Japan, which presents a unique historic experiment in which an internationally competitive textile industry was eventually set up without government protection after earlier experiments with subsidized firms had failed. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Atsushi Ohyama & Serguey Braguinsky & Kevin M. Murphy, 2004. "Entrepreneurial Ability and Market Selection in an Infant Industry: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(2), pages 354-381, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:v:7:y:2004:i:2:p:354-381
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2003.08.002
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    Cited by:

    1. Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama & Tetsuji Okazaki & Chad Syverson, 2015. "Acquisitions, Productivity, and Profitability: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(7), pages 2086-2119, July.
    2. Serguey Braguinsky, 2015. "Knowledge diffusion and industry growth: the case of Japan’s early cotton spinning industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 769-790.
    3. Jenny Berrill & Martha O’Hagan-Luff & André Stel, 2020. "The moderating role of education in the relationship between FDI and entrepreneurial activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 54(4), pages 1041-1059, April.
    4. Braguinsky, Serguey & Rose, David C., 2009. "Competition, cooperation, and the neighboring farmer effect," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 361-376, October.
    5. Rajshree Agarwal & Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama, 2020. "Centers of gravity: The effect of stable shared leadership in top management teams on firm growth and industry evolution," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 467-498, March.
    6. Permani, Risti, 2013. "Optimal Export Tax Rates of Cocoa Beans: A Vector Error Correction Model Approach," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 57(4), pages 1-22.
    7. Saure, Philip, 2007. "Revisiting the infant industry argument," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 104-117, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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