THE RISING ELECTRIC SUN: Japan's Photovoltaics Industry

Photovoltaics manufacturing has followed an all-too-familiar pattern: it was once dominated by U.S. firms but is now controlled by the Japanese. Brown and Daneke attribute the U.S. loss of market share to R&D policy, government financial incentives, and export policy. In particular, they find that the Japanese have done a much better job of isolating the most promising technology and supporting its commercial applications.