Assembling the elephant : a review of empirical studies on the impact of technical change upon incumbent firms / Henry Chesbrough -- Technological distance, spatial distance and sources of knowledge : Japanese 'new entrants' in 'new' biotechnology / Michael J. Lynskey -- U.S.-Japan patent systems / Mariko Sakakibara -- Comparing catalysts of change : evolution and institutional differences in the venture capital industries in the U.S., Japan and Germany / Walter Kuemmerle -- Two best ways? : institutions and the evolution of the U.S. and Japanese semiconductor industries / Jonathan West -- Mobility of engineers and cross-border knowledge building : the technological catching-up case of Korean and Taiwanese semiconductor firms / Jaeyong Song, Paul Almeida, Geraldine Wu -- Change or die : the adoption of biotechnology in the Japanese and U.S. pharmaceutical industries / Michael R. Darby, Lynne G. Zucker -- Introduction to comparative studies of technological evolution / Henry Chesbrough, Robert A. Burgelman.

This volume provides a collection of cross-country analysis of innovation, showing that the effects of innovation upon firms vary from one country to another. Incumbents perish in one country, while they thrive in the same industry in another country. Startups thrive in response to new technological breakthroughs in one country and struggle in another country. Drawing upon studies of semiconductors, disk drives and biotechnology, and examining institutions such as patent systems and venture capital, this volume takes issue with predictions of convergence, and convincingly demonstrates the multiple paths that technologies and innovations can follow.

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