Japan achieved it's present economic position by rejecting free trade theory and instead mastering neomercantilist policies which target strategic industries for development with a range of government sponsored cartels, subsidies, import barriers and export incentives. These policies stimulated an economic growth rate which averaged ten percent before 1973, and five percent since, rates four and two times greater than America's during the same periods. This book analyzes the policy making process, implementation, successes, occasional shortcomings, and challenges posed by Tokyo's neomercantilist policies toward its trade rivals.

A study of how industrial policy and targeting accelerated Japanese economic development and affected the rest of the world. This book considers who targeted industries, how they were chosen and what techniques were used to support them. It examines both theory and practice of targeting.

As global corporate rivalry intensifies there is rising concern about the state of industries that have to compete with foreign firms often suspected of being aided by their governments with the aim to dominate world markets. In the European Community, in particular, many industrialists believe that the completion of the single market will make them even more vulnerable to foreign competition. The essays compiled in this book re-examine the arguments for industrial policy. They go beyond the sterile and doctrinaire debate on whether the government should intervene in the economy. Rather, they ask what kind of industrial policy should national governments and the European Community pursue in the light of the increasing openness of their economies, expanding global corporate alliances and faster technological obsolescence. These essays have a distinct policy orientation. They review the latest theoretical developments in order to identify the relevant policy parameters and draw conclusions on what the aim and instruments of industrial policy should be.

Despite recent upheavals, Japan remains one of the dominant economic powers at the end of the twentieth century. Yet the Japanese economy is one of the most misunderstood phenomena in the modern world. Conventionally, Japan is presented as the exception to mainstream economic theory: an exception to the standard models of modern economics. This book demolishes that notion, bringing the full analytical power of economic thought to all aspects of the most dramatic economic success story in recent times. David Flath concentrates on four main themes: Japan's economic growth and development Japan's integration with the world economy Government policies and their effects Economic institutions and practices By applying common economic tools such as the Solow growth model, Modigliani's life-cycle model of saving, Becker's theory of investment, Samuelson's theory of revealed preference, Coase's exposition of the problem of social cost, and the modern theory of industrial organization, this book shows the mainstream principles of economics apply in Japan as successfully as they do elsewhere. Aimed at 3rd/4th year undergraduate and graduate courses on Japan, this book will be indispensable both for students and instructors alike. Lucid explanations and comprehensive and rigorous analysis make it a natural choice for any interested in comprehending the rise of the Japanese economy.