Science and Technology Conflict Between the United States and Japan in the Late 1980s

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Science and Technology in the United States in the late 1980s
Science and Technology in Japan in the late 1980s
The Conflict
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

The policies that the United States and Japan have put in place have been the driving force that has spearheaded their technological advancements for decades. It is the well-calculated information processing that has made the biggest innovation component in Japan and the US…enabling them to stand above many countries in the globe. Within their primary borders, every country considers itself a technological titan, but the moment policymakers decided to consider assessing technological advancements internationally; they realized that there was a lot more to be improved and both countries went on a scientific research spree.

The United States woke up from their assumption that they were the undisputed custodians of technology and hosts of the world’s science laboratory after seeing the Japanese technology (Faust, p.47). This paper will analyze the conflict between the United States and Japan as far as science and technology are concerned.

Science and Technology in the United States in the late 1980s

America has been the center stage of research in literally all fields since WW II; Ranging from nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, computers, and space explorations. The US government has taken a lot of pride from this since it has worked to their advantage especially during logistical differences with other nations which fear their power and supposed wrath if they unleash terror o them. They have therefore been the undisputed superiors in most modernization strategies for decades. But a lot has since changed now; many countries are catching up with the US and closely are the Japanese who seem to be leaving nothing to chance (Greenwald, et. al. pp.57-85).

The government of the United States is taking a different path in scientific research; this has been prompted by the financial crisis which has gripped the nation and the entire world at large. The strategy has been dubbed the “Green New deal” which indicates that the state is now focusing on ecological innovations, but there are still more questions on whether the United States can finance the advancement Until the mid-1980s, United States was still enjoying the sound position of the world’s technological harbor, with most of the resources directed to scientific and technological research, but from the look of things, there has been a lot of diversion and focus has changed from technological research to other fields which the nation considers more important (Mowery, et al pp.639-650).

Science and Technology in Japan in the late 1980s

Geographically, Japan is a mountainous island with limited natural resources that can not support the growing population. A lot of their natural resources, especially minerals were exploited during the post-war era, leaving behind only low-value residues. This left the burden of taking care of the nation to Agriculture and fishing. To counter the demand and supply imbalance, the government of Japan decided to invest in manufacturing and processing; “where they imported raw materials and converted them into finished goods ready for export” (Nadiri, p.17).

With this strategy, the economical infrastructure developed notably necessitating equal growth in transport, communication, energy and more importantly, technological know how. As the nation mastered the art of self reliance, scientific research and development got prioritized and they stopped depending on foreign research by late 1970s and 1980s. In 1980, the Prime Minister whose office hosted the docket of Science and Technology made public his intention of increasing Japan’s competitiveness by launching a technological independence strategy (Kim, pp.14-15).

After only six years from the declaration, 1986, Japan had already put aside a good potion of their GDP for research and development; more than even the United States. And by 1989, 700,000 Japanese were actively involved in research and development; a number which surpassed that of Britain, France and West Germany combined. The nation was third behind the Soviet Union and United States in the number of Engineers in the world and regarding originality, Japan took a clear lead. By 1985, 40% of the inventions that passed as original works were done by Japanese nationals (Kim, pp.16-21).

Japan has managed to spread their technological knowhow across the boarders and United States was no exemption. For instance, Kim reported that in 1987, 33% of successful computer patency in the US were Japanese. In aviation, the percentage stood at 30%, while 26 % went to communication.

But despite all these, Japan research and development trails much behind other nations of its caliber (Kim, p.25). In the late 1980s the government embarked on a strategy to finance research in learning institutions with the electrical machinery, chemical, precision instruments and transport equipment in the top priority. As the 1980s drew to the end, there was a change of heart as the government shifted focus to defense related research as it shied away from industrial technological advancement. Concentration was given to life sciences, alternative energy and information processing (Griliches, p.671).

The Conflict

The two nations have been at loggerheads in trying to show case their technological superiority since WW II. None of them has ever retracted from the need to amass technological strength. The technological advancements in the countries are not limited to any specific field, but are widespread to all sectors of the economy that seem to be beneficial to the nation. Just like the United States, the Japanese and the European Union are focusing to achieve technologies geared to preserve the environment and alternative energy provision. But unlike the US, their move seems more focused and successful owing to the finances that they have put in place to facilitate the move (Griliches, p.690).

The US even failed to ratify the “Kyoto Protocol” and most of their higher learning institutions are in financial crisis and therefore can not fund any sound research project. Financial instructions are in no different situation and can not bail out these research centers. The US Greed New Deal is therefore most likely to just remain a far off dream if the strategy is not changed to be more practical…”this situation that started presenting itself in the1970s will soon deny United States the chance to remain the World’s Laboratory” (Rosenberg, p.21).

For the past ten years, Japan has been committed to promoting civilian research with investment running to 2.8 % of their GDP; this is in excess of 0.8 as compared to that amount set aside in the United States. The United States had set aside over 20% of its overall GDP for research and development, this percentage was reduced from 32% in 1987. Contrary to this, Japan only had 1% of GDP for defense research (Gompers, pp.47-49).

In relation to its labor force, Japan has excess Scientists and Engineers as compared to other developed counterparts. The number is only comparable to Sweden; and while this number is increasing in Japan, the same is falling in the United States. Gompers reports hold it that from 1985-1990, the number of Japanese Scientists grew by 8% as opposed to United States whose stock of Scientists and Engineers remained stagnant at 146 per 10,000 professionals during the same period. Consequently, Japan has more it’s Scientists involved in research and development than the United States. “For every 10,000 citizens in e labor force, Japan has 80 Scientist researchers, while United States has only 74” (Gompers, p.50).

The population of Japan is slightly below half that of the US. But despite this disparity, the number of Engineering University graduates is more than that in the United States. In 1994 alone, Japan released 91,000 Engineers while US trailed behind with only 63,000. This difference has been explained to be brought about by taxonomies differences used in the higher learning institutions in the two countries. In Mowery, explains this wide difference that “students shy from taking courses related to natural sciences and instead opt for Engineering based courses” (Mowery, p.653).

To be at par with Japan and other nations, the United States has opened its boarders such that it does welcome with open arms foreign researchers while on the other hand, Japan seems to have in exes of scientists and engineers. Quiet a good number of talented scientists that are making a name in the nation have foreign origin. Americans have managed to wage above odds countering them and they still enjoy the position of being second to none in technological innovations, reasons being their financial position. This can be proved from the number of Nobel Prize winners where almost half of the total numbers of winners are Americans since the initiation of the competition (Greenwald, p.87).

Conclusion

From the facts presented in this paper, it can be said that as Japan has managed to master high-tech art of microelectronics and robotics which has helped it in investment decisions against the United States, but still, the nation has do undergo a lot of improvements to be comfortably position itself above the US technologically. Because it seems that science technology has direct influence on the economic status of a country, the two nations have persistently been at technological war with each other trying to outdo one another.

A common agenda sweeping across the political and social landscape of both countries is that they have recognized the need to advance in technology; to this effect therefore, both Japan and United States have increased funds to facilitate innovation and commercialization of high tech-technology as it has proved to be the only means to achieving sustainable economic growth.

With the growing global competition, the countries which do not seek more efficient ways to provide necessary services will find themselves knocked out of business with overburdening production expenses. Both countries (United States and Japan) therefore need to put aside their differences and instead work together in running specific government programs to facilitate research and development. By working as a united front, the research centers; small and medium enterprises, educational institutions and industries will reap massive benefits.

Work Cited

Faust, K. Patent Data as Early Indicators of Technological Position of Competing Industrialized Countries. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Washington, D.C. (1984). pp.1261-1265.

Gompers, P. and Lerner, J. The Venture Capital Cycle. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (1999). pp.47-51.

Greenwald, D. et al. The Concise McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Modern Economics, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. (1984). pp.57-87.

Griliches, Z. Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey. Journal of Economic Literature 28 (1990). pp.661–707.

Kim, L. (1997). Imitation to Innovation: The Dynamics of Japan’s Technological Learning. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. pp.14-27.

Mowery, D. The Changing Structure of the US National Innovation System: Implications for International Conflict and Cooperation in R&D Policy. Research Policy 27. (1998). pp.639 654.

Nadiri, I. Innovations and Technological Spillovers. NBER Working Paper No. 4423. Boston: National Bureau of Economic Research. (1993). p.17.

Rosenberg, N. and Mowery, C. The U.S. National Innovation System. In Nelson, R.ed., National Innovation Systems, (1993). pp. 29–75. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.21-26.

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