Proposal of industrial research and development performance indices

To express research and development performance, R&D efficiency and R&D cash flow are proposed as indices. These indices reflect the connection between investment and its results more clearly than conventional indices such as R&D expenditure-to-sales ratio. For this attribute, the proposed indices are expected to be particularly useful in demonstrating the R&D division's accountability to other divisions and work within the R&D division toward R&D efficiency improvement.     

Citation network analysis of organic LEDs

The field of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is an emergent research domain because of both scientific interest in chemistry and condensed matter physics and industrial importance as flat panel displays. In this paper, we analyzed a citation network of OLED papers and used a topological clustering method to investigate the structure of research and to detect emerging research domains. We found that most papers belong to two main clusters: organics and polymers. These two clusters have distinctive differences in subcluster structures and journals where papers are published. Supposing this discrepancy to indicate research progress, organics are in the applied research stage, while polymers are in the basic research stage.     

An analysis of geographical agglomeration and modularized industrial networks in a regional cluster: A case study at Yamagata prefecture in Japan

In a regional innovation system, a dense inter-organizational network within the region is recognized as a key factor in enhancing knowledge diffusion, regional learning, and effective resource transfers. Therefore, understanding the network structure and physical proximity of organizations is essential. In this paper, we investigated the industrial structure of Yamagata prefecture in Japan as a case study. Because Yamagata is a representative industrial region, the analysis can also provide an insight into other industrial regions. Initially, we investigated the geographical dispersion of firms and found them to be agglomerated along Route 13 and the Tohoku Shinkansen railroad, indicating that infrastructures for transportation still have a decisive role in terms of site location. Subsequently, we analyzed the modular structure of the inter-firm network. The results showed that hub firms construct a different type of network and play different roles within the inter-firm network, reflecting their strategic choice. The results also showed that there is a tendency for firms to transact with those in close proximity, and that firm location is also affected by the location of the hub firm in the module in addition to the infrastructures.     

Simulation Analysis of a Dynamic Reallocation-based Routing Functionality for SAGE Application

A large amount of scientific data is generated through computation and analysis. Also, today’s scientific research necessitates an aggregation of diverse expertise from experts with different backgrounds. Therefore, visualizing and sharing these data among scientists in an intuitive and easy manner is of more importance in scientific collaborative research than ever. We have focused on SAGE, a middleware that realizes a large-scale remote visualization leveraging network streaming technique as a promising building block technology. However, no advanced network control function for efficient use of the network is equipped with SAGE although SAGE relies on a network streaming techniques. Our previous research integrated a functionality that detected network failures avoided such failure by rerouting network flows of SAGE into the functionality. Nonetheless, a network congestion avoidance functionality to adapt a collection of network flows generated by SAGE to the underlying network has not been developed yet. In this paper we explore the feasibility of a reallocation-based dynamic routing functionality for SAGE, with which all network flows on the network are rearranged. For feasibility research, we perform simulation experiments to observe the behavior of the functionality. The evaluation confirms that our proposed functionality works correctly and brings better throughput for each flow.     

Research Note: A High Resolution Graph Viewer for Multi-monitor Visualization Environment

Bigdata analysis is a hot topic in all fields of science. Particularly in scientific fields investigating data relations, observation and analysis of relation among diverse data sets has begun to play a role of great importance. A graph is a representative expression for the purpose and many graph viewers and tools prevail today. However, most of these graph viewers do not offer the capability for displaying graphs on a multi-monitor visualization environment, even though multi-monitor visualization environment facilitates scientists in understanding data in a more detailed and intuitive manner. In this paper, our first exploration towards a high resolution graph viewer for a multi-monitor visualization environment is explored and reported.     

Stock Market Responses Under Quantitative Easing: State Dependence and Transparency in Monetary Policy

This paper evaluates the effects of unconventional monetary policies adopted by the Bank of Japan from the year 2001 to 2006. A new measure is proposed to identify a nontraditional monetary policy shock from policy packages under the zero lower bound of short‐term nominal interest rates during the quantitative easing period, using data on intraday 3‐month Euroyen futures rates. We find that stock markets do not react to a policy surprise in an expected manner and negatively respond to a monetary easing surprise. Moreover, we find an asymmetric response during a boom and a recession and a nonlinear reaction because of increasing uncertainty concerning future inflation dynamics and the enhancement of monetary policy transparency. Our result suggests that it is difficult to implement unconventional monetary policy to manage agents’ expectations and a ‘lean against the wind’ policy to prevent asset bubbles, particularly at the zero bound.     

Endogenous business cycles caused by nonconvex costs and interactions

This paper shows that endogenous business cycles (inventory cycles) arise from a combination of nonconvex costs and economic interactions among firms. At the micro level, firm behavior is characterized by lumpiness, and the standard production-smoothing theory is empirically rejected. To account for this, a nonconvex cost function is assumed in our model. It might be expected that even if the microeconomic behavior is lumpy, the effect disappears at the aggregate level because of the law of large numbers. However, we show that if there exist interactions among firms, a regular endogenous cycle emerges at the aggregate level given that the degree of the interaction effect exceeds a critical point. That is, the randomly behaving microeconomic agents generate deterministic collective behavior via interactions. This offers an explanation for the Kitchin cycle.     

Structure of research on biomass and bio-fuels: A citation-based approach

Biomass and bio-fuels have gained a growing interest as sustainable and renewable energy. In this paper, we perform a citation network analysis of scientific publications to know the current structure of biomass and bio-fuel research. By clustering and visualizing the network, we revealed their taxonomic structure. Emerging technologies are detected by analyzing the average publication year of clusters. According to the results, bio-diesel and hydrogen production are the most rapidly developing domains among biomass bio-fuel researches. We also analyzed the position of each cluster in the global structure of research. By using citation counts within and out of the cluster, we categorized each cluster into the following four categories: (I) topic specific; (II) domain specific; (III) global link; and (IV) specific & global. For research domains of category (III) or (IV), it is difficult that single technology overcomes the current limitation of bio-energy productions. Research on lignocellulose feedstock is a typical case where knowledge from other scientific disciplines is necessary.