It's remarkable how many of the new generation of successful Japanese entrepreneurs have had significant international experience via either study or work. Overseas experience opens the mind. It teaches people that there are many ways to skin a cat, leading them to ask the kind of questions and see the sort of options that those without such experience do not. For these reasons, CEOs who have had managerial experience overseas generate better firm performance. That's why CEOs at nearly 90% of leading companies in Europe and North America have had such experiences. In Japan, the number is only 17%.
 
           Scientists, too, need international collaboration. When scientists in any country work with foreign counterparts, their work improves, as measured by how many other scientists cite their work Yet, most of Japan's scientists are incredibly insulated from such collaboration. When it comes to the share of papers co-written with foreign scientists, Japan comes in dead last among 30 OECD countries. Only 2.7% of Japanese scientists have spent time working overseas. Among the rest of the OECD, the average is 6.5%.
 
           Companies fail as badly as scientists in collaborating across borders. Only 1.3% of all Japanese patents include a foreign company or researcher as a co-patentee, the lowest rate in the OECD. The OECD average is 14%.
 
           For details, see https://richardkatz.substack.com/p/restoring-japans-leadership-in-innovation-466

Richard Katz