Seminar with Assistant Professor Jesper Edman ‘Category Creation From Afar: The Role of External Agents in Industry Emergence’

The paper explores how “categorization from afar,” in other words, the construction of new industry categories by external agents—policy makers, regulators, local governments, consulting firms and other actors—influences the emergence of new industries. We use the case of the Japanese microbrewery industry to demonstrate how initial external category-setters shape the evolution of the industry by influencing the type of pThe paper explores how “categorization from afar,” in other words, the construction of new industry categories by external agents—policy makers, regulators, local governments, consulting firms and other actors—influences the emergence of new industries. We use the case of the Japanese microbrewery industry to demonstrate how initial external category-setters shape the evolution of the industry by influencing the type of producers that enter and what they produce. We show that external agents used the pre-existing term “jibiru,” – meaning regional or local beer – to define the new industry in terms of local entrepreneurship, economic growth and community revival. In contrast to the framing used by pre-existing Japanese microbrewery aficionados, the external actors’ category definition had little to do with the technical aspects or taste requirements of beer, and everything to do with the interests of national and local government in regional revitalization. This broad framing served to legitimate entry by producers from a diverse range of backgrounds, and invited extreme experimentation around local and regional ingredients; it also made it difficult for the industry to reach a shared consensus on the taste and characteristics of the products. Our findings contribute to the literature on industry emergence by demonstrating how early industry framing by external actors – whose interests may diverge from those of consumers and producers – may impact the nature of entrants, their product development choices, as well as the long-run legitimacy of the industry itself.

Jesper Edman is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Commerce and Management at Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan. He obtained his PhD in International Business from the Stockholm School of Economics in 2009. His research focuses on how globalization is transforming Japanese business practices and industries.

Please sign up for the seminar by sending an e-mail to arc.int@cbs.dk