Japanese Economic Development Markets, Norms, Structures

Japanese Economic Development offers a wide-ranging account of Japan's economic development between 1600 and 2000, taking into account economic, cultural, social and political theories about why Japan emerged as the first truly wealthy country in Asia in the modern age. The author presents three distinct approaches to understanding how and why Japan made the transition from a relatively low-income country mainly focused on agriculture to a high-income nation centred on manufacturing and services. Penned by an expert in Japanese economic history and economic development, the book explores all theories in depth and includes arguments rooted in culture and social norms, arguments couched in political terms, and arguments both technical and non-technical developed by economists. The book makes a case for "over determination" in economic behavior. Because individual, firm level and governmental behavior is simultaneously determined by the interaction of markets, norms, and structures, change over time is rarely if ever limited to the economy operating in isolation from social norms and structures. A virtue of the treatment in this book is that it covers a period spanning 400 years, devoting considerable attention to the Tokugawa era antedating Japan's industrialization. It consists of twelve chapters that can be used in a variety of social science and history courses devoted to Japan, including courses aimed mainly at the post-1945 period. In offering an eclectic account of Japan's economic development, this book will appeal to students in a broad group of disciplines including economics, political science, sociology, geography, and history. It can also be usefully employed, more specifically, as a reading in economic history and economic development courses, especially those dealing with non-Western countries.Mosk, Carl is the author of 'Japanese Economic Development Markets, Norms, Structures', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415771580 and ISBN 0415771587.