Dynamics Of Japan S Trade And Industrial Policy In The Post Rapid Growth Era 1980 2000

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.

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.This 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.

Boiling Water Reactors, Volume Four in the JSME Series on Thermal and Nuclear Power Generation compiles the latest research in this very comprehensive reference that begins with an analysis of the history of BWR development and then moves through BWR plant design and innovations. The reader is guided through considerations for all BWR plant features and systems, including reactor internals, safety systems and plant instrumentation and control. Thermal-hydraulic aspects within a BWR core are analyzed alongside fuel analysis before comparisons of the latest BWR plant life management and maintenance technologies to promote safety and radiation protection practices are covered. The book's authors combine their in-depth knowledge and depth of experience in the field to analyze innovations and Next Generation BWRs, considering prospects for a variety of different BWRs, such as High-Conversion-BWRs, TRU-Burner Reactors and Economic Simplified BWRs. Written by experts from the leaders and pioneers in nuclear research at the Japanese Society of Mechanical Engineers Includes real examples and case studies from Japan, the US and Europe to provide a deeper learning opportunity with practical benefits Considers societal impacts and sustainability concerns and goals throughout the discussion Explores BWR plant design, thermal-hydraulic aspects, the reactor core and plant life management and maintenance in one complete resource

Despite the destruction of its social and economic infrastructure during the Second World War, Japan's subsequent remarkable recovery and growth propelled it rapidly into the ranks of the developed nations. In order to trace this post-war transformation formally, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) convened a committee of independent academics to compile a seventeen-volume History of Japanese Trade and Industry Policy, of which this volume acts as a summary. Translated for the first time into English, it examines the planning, drafting, and implementation of various policies adopted by MITI against their economic and industrial background in the period from 1945 to 1979. It provides an objective overview and analysis of the development of international trade and industry policy that will be of interest to economists, political scientists, policy-makers, and public administration lawyers alike.

Written by fifteen leading academics from the Japan Society for International Development (JASID), this book undertakes a review of Japan's economic development over the last 150 years, and seeks to clarify Japanese priorities in domestic and foreign policy for the coming decades.

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?

The aim of this book is to analyze Japan's high-growth economy, in particular to clarify the kinds of changes in people’s lives that were generated by high growth. The present volume focuses not on the macro-economic mechanisms that expanded the scale of the economy, but on the micro-economic changes that were effected in everyday life. The emergence of a mass consumption society as a result of economic growth suggests that people's lifestyles and consumer behavior changed in various ways. The first chapter focuses on the apparel industry's expanding market as it corresponded to changes in consumer behavior. Even as consumer life became more comfortable and abundant, consumers were becoming uneasy about the environmental deterioration associated with high growth. The second chapter examines how the Japanese government addressed emissions regulations while drawing on the lessons of America's experience with the same issue. The change in industrial structure brought about by economic growth inevitably resulted in the decline of other industries. Chief among these was the coal-mining industry, which, with the onset of a full-scale energy revolution, lost its role as energy supplier owing to the import of cheap crude oil. The third chapter discusses the government's industrial policies as they addressed the coal industry's adjustment in the high-growth era, concluding that they reduced such problems as stagnation, unemployment, and local industrial decline. The adjustments in employment practices contributed positively to the gradual shift of labor from declining industries to growth industries. The fourth chapter investigates changes in labor management in the steel industry, which was one of the high-growth era's leading industries. This publication will serve as a valuable resource for those who are interested not only in the post-war history in Japan but also in high growth economies in recent East Asia.

What has been the role of goverment industrial policy, through agencies such as MITI, in Japan's extraordinary post-war development? How has the role changed in successive phases of growth? What `lessons' can be learned from this experience by other nations, be they in the West, or developing countries or economies in transition attempting to introduce competitive market structures? These are some of the main questions addressed in this absorbing and thorough study. Dividing the period into three main phases, the author shows that policy played a crucial role in the initial period of post-war recovery. It did so not by `picking winners' but by creating a stable base from which development could occur by spreading the cost of introducing market competition over time. In the succeeding high growth period and more recently Japan's industrial policy attempts only to promote the development of new technology and smooth the decline of sectors that are no longer globally competitive. That Japan itself no longer practises industrial policy on a wide scale is an irony little appreciated by those advocating the adoption of a `Japan style' industrial policy elsewhere.