| This dissertation examines a researcher behavior in an R&D community. Persistence behavior is selected because researchers need to accumulate their knowledge in order to develop a new technology. A semiconductor laser diode technology is selected because it is a well-developed entity in the R&D community. Thousands of researchers and organizations have joined in the R&D community for more than three decades. Furthermore, a variety of products have been introduced into the markets for twenty years.; The persistence study is classified into three levels, individual, organization, and nation. Several hypotheses regarding the individual, organizational, and national persistence are formulated and tested using data from 59,267 researchers, 3,071 organizations, and 66 nations during a thirty-three years period. This dissertation also employs bibliography data from the INSPEC database.; Based on our findings, we found that a researcher's sunk cost, co-authors, research areas, experimental work, and reputation affect his/her persistence significantly. We also found that an organization's commitment, geographical location, and technological capability affect the persistence of an organization significantly. Finally, we found that a nation's productivity environment, which consists of a nation's knowledge prerequisite, manpower, knowledge diversity, and technological infrastructure, affect the persistence of a nation significantly. However, an individual work value factor affects the persistence of a nation negatively.; Finally, we found that Japan and the US are major players in the R&D community. A comparative study, therefore, is examined. We found that most factors which affect the persistence of researchers, organizations, and firms of both countries are very similar. |
