Why Japan can't reform : inside the system / Susan Carpenter.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carpenter, Susan, 1943-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Structural adjustment (Economic policy).

Japan--Economic conditions--1989-.

Japan.

Economic conditions.

Industrial policy--Japan.

Industrial policy.

Government business enterprises--Japan.

Government business enterprises.

Government corporations--Japan.

Government corporations.

Structural adjustment (Economic policy)--Japan.

Physical Description:

xii, 170 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Summary:

At the start of the 1990s Japan's post war economic success came to an abrupt end, and the country slid into a decade long recession from which it has, on many levels, still not recovered. This book examines the institutional factors in the Japanese system of government administration that have paralyzed the decision-making process and prevented the system from accommodating the ever changing demands on the domestic front and the global political economy. It argues that the current model defies structural reform and frustrates the implementation of economic and social policies that can resolve the problems that have challenged the Japanese for years.

Excerpts from interviews conducted with Japanese bureaucrats reveal how their government views the United States, Japan's protector in the Pacific and its second-largest trading partner. The interviews are particularly relevant to the economic dilemma that the Japanese are facing currently due to Japan's dependency on the United States. They also provide an invaluable insight into why Japan has yet to integrate into the international community.

Contents:

Part I The System

Chartered Corporations 6

Window of opportunity for structural reforms 6

In name only 7

Why reform? 8

Maintaining territory 10

Japan's foreign direct investment and the implications of amakudari 10

The image of reform 12

The image of reform: privatization of the Japan Highway Corporation 13

The image of reform: dissolution of the Japan National Oil Corporation 16

The image of reform: amakudari 17

Koizumi's legacy: privatization of Japan Post 19

Koizumi's legacy: 2004 reform of the State Social Security System at a price 21

Social Insurance Agency: Special Corporations/IAI 22

Koizumi's legacy: an increase in public debt 25

Koizumi's legacy: what fiscal policies perpetuated 25

Conservatism according to Abe: Japan Inc. prevails 28

Accessing the real story: research methodology 32

The book's objectives 37

2 The Development of the System 39

The 'ruling triad' 39

The Meiji Period (1868-1912): in the beginning 40

Ministerial cooperation with family-owned oligopolies (zaibatsu) 45

Taisho period: the age of liberalism 48

The Showa period and the empowerment of bureaucracy: an enduring relationship with the oligopolies and the development of industrial policy 51

Second World War: the intensification of ministerial powers 54

Social welfare and corporate culture 55

3 The Elite Bureaucracy: the Image of Reform 57

Japanese-style democracy: a one-party system 61

Ministerial policies 1971: the system continues 64

Ministerial policies 1974-: the system continues 65

4 Amakudari: The Ties that Bind the Bureaucracy with the Private and Public Sectors and Politics 69

Ministerial manipulation of amakudari in Special Corporations/IAIs 71

Amakudari to research institutes 72

Amakudari to central government advisory panels 73

Amakudari to public office 73

Amakudari to the private sector 74

Amakudari and 'administrative guidance' 75

Amakudari and 'window guidance': non-performing loans 76

The bureaucracy and bid-rigging: Special Corporations/IAI's at the centre 79

The post-war system sustained 80

5 Interpersonal Networks in the 'Ruling Triad' 83

Pork-barrel patronage in the prefectures 84

The bureaucracy, big business and the LDP 86

The BOJ and the private sector 87

The bureaucracy and big business: the Ministry of Defence and trading companies 89

The bureaucracy and bid-rigging 92

The bureaucracy and big-business: METI's network with retailers and manufacturers 93

Part II Inside the System

6 The Elite Bureaucracy: Prisoners of the System 103

The rigorous path of the elite 105

Escape from the system: temporary relief from constant pressure from peers and superiors 106

The asset-inflated economy spurs expansion abroad 108

Escape from their system 111

Perspectives about America from inside the system 112

7 The Interviews 114

Impressions of America during childhood 116

Education about America 119

Initial exposure to foreigners 121

Introduction to American society 122

American society/Japanese society 124

Media coverage of Japan and the United States 131

Japan-US trade relations 133

Why can't the Japanese internationalize? 135

Too little too late: what ministerial policies have wrought 139

At the root of the problem: institutional paralysis 143

Why can't Japan reform? 145

Conservatism according to Koizumi and Abe: the Kishi connection 145

The future: resignation and fear? 147.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 150-162) and index.

ISBN:

9780230220706

0230220703

OCLC:

234073780