The Trigger Method: Assessing Strategic Industries and Technologies 

The Trigger Method (hikigane hoho) was developed out of a two year research project and special cross disciplinary course conducted by Professor Julian Gresser at Harvard Law School and MIT’s Program on Science, Technology, and Society between 1982-1984. The project resulted in a book Partners in Prosperity—Strategic Industries for the U.S. and Japan (McGraw Hill 1984/Cho Hanei Sengen, TBS Britannica, 1985). The following are excerpted chapters on the Trigger Method.

“In contrast to most the recent journalistic writing on “industrial policies” and the “Japanese miracle” Julian Gresser’s approach to these twin problems is well informed, free of academic jargon, and full of interesting practical suggestions. I found the book from the first page to the last absorbing reading.”   Wassily Leontief, Nobel Laureate in Economics

The Trigger Method – In Depth