1st Edition

Industrial Development in Postwar Japan

By Hirohisa Kohama Copyright 2007
    240 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    240 Pages 18 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Structured into sub-sector by sub-sector analyses, this book provides a clear and accessible examination of industrial development, without over-generalizing or being weighed down by historical details. Written by an authority in the area of development economics it explores the companies and the individuals that have pushed Japan's economy forwards.

    Kohama situates the ‘miraculous growth’ of the Japanese economy in the 1960s in the trade liberalization policy of 1960 and the income doubling plan that commenced in 1961, yet also analyzes the pre-war structures that were in place to facilitate such a 'miracle.' Combining policy analysis with empirical industry-specific analysis, he argues that private dynamism was the real driver of change, rather than policy alone.

    Reviewing the macroeconomic development of the economy but focusing on the development of the industrial sub-sectors that dominated Japan’s industrial scene at various stages of development and structural changes that happened in the process of industrial development, this book is ideal reading for graduate students taking courses on economic development.

     

    1. Introduction: Japan as a Developing Country 2. Economic Development is Structural Change 3. The Textile Industry: A Leading Industry in Developing Countries 4. The Steel Industry: The Typical Industry of Semi-Developed Countries 5. The Chemical Industry: A Huge and Heretical Industry 6. The General Machinery Industry: From Import Substitution to Export 7. The Electrical and Electronics Industries: From Low-Tech to High-Tech 8. The Shipbuilding Industry: The Dilemma of Industrial Adjustment 9. The Automobile Industry: Entrepreneurship and the Government Intervention 10. Conclusion: The Men Who Created the Economic Miracle

    Biography

    Hirohisa Kohama