Circles of compensation
Subtitle: economic growth and the globalization of Japan
By: Kent E. Calder
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 297
ISBN-13: 9780804798686; 9781503602441
Subjects: Economic policy; Economic development; Globalization; Economic conditions
Description: Japan grew explosively and consistently for more than a century, from the Meiji Restoration until the collapse of the economic bubble in the early 1990s. Since then, it has been unable to restart its economic engine and respond to globalization. How could the same political-economic system produce such strongly contrasting outcomes? This book identifies the crucial variables as classic Japanese forms of socio-political organization: the "circles of compensation." These cooperative groupings of economic, political, and bureaucratic interests dictate corporate and individual responses to such critical issues as investment and innovation; at the micro level, they explain why individuals can be decidedly cautious on their own, yet prone to risk-taking as a collective. Kent E. Calder examines how these circles operate in seven concrete areas, from food supply to consumer electronics, and deals in special detail with the influence of Japan's changing financial system. The result is a comprehensive overview of Japan's circles of compensation as they stand today, and a road map for broadening them in the future.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 277-286) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : confronting the paradox; title: Paradox and Japanese public policy; title: The circles-of-compensation concept; title: The political economy of connectedness; title: Finance; title: Land and housing; title: Food supply; title: Energy; title: Transportation; title: Communications; title: Japan's domestic circles and the broader world; title: Models for the future; title: Conclusion : unraveling the paradox.