Between MITI and the Market

Between MITI and the Market PDF

Author: Daniel I. Okimoto

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 572

ISBN-13: 0804718121

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Over the postwar period, the scope of industrial policy has expanded markedly. Governments in virtually all advanced industrial countries have extended the visible hand of the state in assisting specific industries or individual companies. Although greater government involvement in some countries has lessened the dislocations brought about by slower growth rates, industrial policy has also caused or exacerbated a number of other problems, including distortions in the allocation of capital and labor and trade conflicts that undermine the postwar system of free trade. Only Japan is widely cited as an unambiguous success story. The effectiveness of its industrial policy is revealed in the successful emergence of one government-targeted industry after another as world-class competitors: for example, steel, automobiles, and semiconductors. Foreign countries fear that a number of still-developing industries—like biotechnology, telecommunications, and information processing—will follow the same pattern. But is industrial policy the main reason for Japan's economic achievements? The author asserts that the reasons for Japan's spectacular track record go well beyond the realm of industrial policy into broad areas of the political economy as a whole. In this book, the author attempts to identify the reasons for the comparative effectiveness of Japanese industrial policy for high technology by answering the following questions: What is the attitude of Japanese leaders toward state intervention in the marketplace? What is the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) doing to promote the development of high technology? How has the organization of the private sector contributed to MITI's capacity to intervene effectively? What elements in Japan's political system help insulate industrial policymaking from the demands of interest-group politics?

MITI and the Japanese Miracle

MITI and the Japanese Miracle PDF

Author: Chalmers Johnson

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1982-06

Total Pages: 818

ISBN-13: 080476560X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The focus of this book is on the Japanese economic bureaucracy, particularly on the famous Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), as the leading state actor in the economy. Although MITI was not the only important agent affecting the economy, nor was the state as a whole always predominant, I do not want to be overly modest about the importance of this subject. The particular speed, form, and consequences of Japanese economic growth are not intelligible without reference to the contributions of MITI. Collaboration between the state and big business has long been acknowledged as the defining characteristic of the Japanese economic system, but for too long the state's role in this collaboration has been either condemned as overweening or dismissed as merely supportive, without anyone's ever analyzing the matter. The history of MITI is central to the economic and political history of modern Japan. Equally important, however, the methods and achievements of the Japanese economic bureaucracy are central to the continuing debate between advocates of the communist-type command economies and advocates of the Western-type mixed market economies. The fully bureaucratized command economies misallocate resources and stifle initiative; in order to function at all, they must lock up their populations behind iron curtains or other more or less impermeable barriers. The mixed market economies struggle to find ways to intrude politically determined priorities into their market systems without catching a bad case of the "English disease" or being frustrated by the American-type legal sprawl. The Japanese, of course, do not have all the answers. But given the fact that virtually all solutions to any of the critical problems of the late twentieth century--energy supply, environmental protection, technological innovation, and so forth--involve an expansion of official bureaucracy, the particular Japanese priorities and procedures are instructive. At the very least they should forewarn a foreign observer that the Japanese achievements were not won without a price being paid.

Japan's Growing Technological Capability

Japan's Growing Technological Capability PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1992-02-01

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 0309047803

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The perspectives of technologists, economists, and policymakers are brought together in this volume. It includes chapters dealing with approaches to assessment of technology leadership in the United States and Japan, an evaluation of future impacts of eroding U.S. technological preeminence, an analysis of the changing nature of technology-based global competition, and a discussion of policy options for the United States.

Divided Sun

Divided Sun PDF

Author: Scott Callon

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 0804731543

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Despite widespread claims to the contrary, Japan's high-tech industrial policies over the last two turbulent decades have proved to be neither cooperative nor successful. This book focuses on MITI and Japan's giant electronics firms—their ambitions and conflicts—to show that the policymaking process is torn by conflict and competition.

Dynamics of Japan’s Trade and Industrial Policy in the Post Rapid Growth Era (1980–2000)

Dynamics of Japan’s Trade and Industrial Policy in the Post Rapid Growth Era (1980–2000) PDF

Author: RIETI

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2020-09-18

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9789811519895

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This open access book provides an in-depth examination of Japan's policy responses to the economic challenges of the 1980s and '90s. While MITI's earlier role in promoting rapid growth has been addressed in other studies, this volume, based on official records and exhaustive interviews, is the first to examine the aftermath of rapid growth and the evolution of MITI's interpretation of the economy's changing needs. Covering such topics as the oil shocks, trade conflict with the United States, and the rise and collapse of the so-called bubble economy, it presents a detailed analysis and evaluation of how these challenges were interpreted by government officials, the kinds of policies that were enacted, the extent to which policy aims were realized, and lessons for the longer term. This book is recommended especially to officials of countries concerned about the challenges that follow on high economic growth and to readers interested in Japan’s contemporary economic history.

Cracking the Japanese Market

Cracking the Japanese Market PDF

Author: James Morgan

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 1991-04-04

Total Pages: 364

ISBN-13: 1439106401

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Global business today is played by new rules -- many of which are being written by the Japanese and their remarkably successful companies. Because the Japanese are redefining business as we know it, Western companies expecting to profit from the new global marketplace must first learn to compete and succeed against the Japanese in Japan. James C. Morgan, Chairman of Applied Materials, Inc., the leading supplier of advanced processing equipment to the worldwide semiconductor industry which does about forty percent of its business in Japan, and J. Jeffrey Morgan, who has worked in Tokyo on the "inside" at Mitsui & Co., Japan's oldest trading conglomerate, contend that apathy and ignorance have prevented many Western companies from capitalizing on the enormous opportunities for business in Japan. In this brilliant examination of Japanese markets, companies, and business practices -- with special emphasis on the establishment of Applied Materials Japan -- the Morgans, father and son, assert that success in the world of Japanese business is determined by two factors: technology and relationships. Candidly discussing their own mistakes and failures as well as their triumphs, the authors provide invaluable insights into the specific challenges facing Western companies in establishing a presence in Japan: problems in financing the venture, product design and production, marketing and distribution, and most important, creating long-term relationships or "putting on a Japanese face." The extraordinary success of Applied Materials Japan -- hailed by George Bush on the campaign trail in 1988 as "a model for all America" -- is testimony to the valuable lessons to be learned from this book. The Morgans provide a clearly written, step-by-step framework for reorienting company thinking, revising corporate strategy, and revitalizing any organization for world class competitiveness. Using vivid examples of Western companies that have both succeeded admirably and failed miserably in Japan, Cracking the Japanese Market is a straightforward examination of what it takes to compete successfully there -- and by extension in the world today.

Japan, who Governs?

Japan, who Governs? PDF

Author: Chalmers Johnson

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 394

ISBN-13: 9780393037395

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The godfather of Japanese revisionism, author of MITI and the Japanese Miracle and president of the Japan Policy Research Institute explains how—and why—Japan has become a world power in the past 25 years. Johnson lucidly explains here how the Japanese economy will thrive as it moves from a producer-dominated economy to a consumer-oriented headquarters for all of East Asia.

The Political Economy of Growth in Vietnam

The Political Economy of Growth in Vietnam PDF

Author: Guanie Lim

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-10-05

Total Pages: 99

ISBN-13: 1000196453

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Since the doi moi reforms in 1986, Vietnam has experienced a dramatic socioeconomic transformation. Lim examines the role of the state and its interaction with market forces in bringing this change about. Taking the motorcycle and banking industries as case studies, this book explores the dynamics between the state and transnational corporations in shaping the manufacturing and service sectors, respectively. Vietnam, as one of Southeast Asia’s quintessential latecomer economies with little prior experience of dealing with transnational corporations, has nevertheless been quite successful in maintaining some control over the impact of foreign direct investment. Yet, the learning outcomes remain highly uneven. In addition, Lim argues that Vietnamese advancement in both industries mirrors only partially the more generalized patterns of state-led development in East Asia’s earlier batch of latecomer economies. Vietnam’s case thus presents practical lessons on how to succeed in crafting and utilizing policy instruments to achieve domestic economic and technological upgrading. This book will be of great interest to scholars of political economy and industrial policy in East Asia, as well as to scholars and policy professionals analyzing approaches to development strategy more broadly.

Varieties of Capitalism

Varieties of Capitalism PDF

Author: Peter A. Hall

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 557

ISBN-13: 0199247749

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Applying the new economics of organisation and relational theories of the firm to the problem of understanding cross-national variation in the political economy, this volume elaborates a new understanding of the institutional differences that characterise the 'varieties of capitalism' worldwide.

How Asia Works

How Asia Works PDF

Author: Joe Studwell

Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

Published: 2013-07-02

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0802193471

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

“A good read for anyone who wants to understand what actually determines whether a developing economy will succeed.” —Bill Gates, “Top 5 Books of the Year” An Economist Best Book of the Year from a reporter who has spent two decades in the region, and who the Financial Times said “should be named chief myth-buster for Asian business.” In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell distills his extensive research into the economies of nine countries—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China—into an accessible, readable narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished. Studwell’s in-depth analysis focuses on three main areas: land policy, manufacturing, and finance. Land reform has been essential to the success of Asian economies, giving a kick-start to development by utilizing a large workforce and providing capital for growth. With manufacturing, industrial development alone is not sufficient, Studwell argues. Instead, countries need “export discipline,” a government that forces companies to compete on the global scale. And in finance, effective regulation is essential for fostering, and sustaining growth. To explore all of these subjects, Studwell journeys far and wide, drawing on fascinating examples from a Philippine sugar baron’s stifling of reform to the explosive growth at a Korean steel mill. “Provocative . . . How Asia Works is a striking and enlightening book . . . A lively mix of scholarship, reporting and polemic.” —The Economist