Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Japan Since 1980

by: Thomas F. Cargill , Takayuki Sakamoto

Japan Since 1980

by: Thomas F. Cargill , Takayuki Sakamoto

ISBN 13:
9780521672726
ISBN 10:
0521672724
Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 08/25/2008
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

New From $37.61

Sorry, this item is currently unavailable on Knetbooks.com

Click the link below to purchase this eBook from our trusted partner, eCampus.com.

View eBook

List Price $37.99 Save $0.38

New $37.61

Print on Demand: 2-4 Weeks. This item cannot be cancelled or returned.

We Buy This Book Back!

Included with your book

Free Shipping On Every Order

Add to Cart

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Extend or Purchase Your Rental at Any Time

Need to keep your rental past your due date? At any time before your due date you can extend or purchase your rental through your account.

Summary

An analysis of the performance of Japan's economic and political institutions from late 1970s to 2007. The authors explain how Japan's flawed response to new economic, political, and technological forces ushered in a lost decade and a half of economic development from 1990. Impressive economic performance in the 1980s masked an 'accident waiting to happen' the collapse in equity and real estate prices in 199091. Japan's iron triangle of politicians, bureaucrats, and client industries, combined with a flawed financial liberalization process and policy errors by the Bank of Japan and the Ministry of Finance, brought Japan to an abyss of deflation, recession, and insolvency by the late 1990s. The turning point was the election of Koizumi as prime minister in 2001. The book explores Koizumi's economic reform, new developments in socioeconomic conditions, the politics and economy after Koizumi, and the economic and political challenges facing Japan in the new century.

Preface	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Introduction and Overview	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
The Pretransition Period: Developments up to 1980	p. 3
The Transition since 1980 in Broad Perspective	p. 10
The High-Water Mark of Japanese Economy, 1980-1985	p. 11
An Accident Waiting to Happen, 1985-1990	p. 13
Economic, Financial and Political Distress, 1990 to 2001	p. 15
Koizumi - The Unconventional Politician, April 2001-September 2006	p. 17
Beyond September 2006	p. 20
Outline of the Study	p. 22
Economic and Political Institutions in the 1970s	p. 27
Introduction	p. 27
Economic and Political Institutions: Is Japan Special?	p. 29
The Financial System	p. 32
Corporate Governance	p. 38
Labor Market Institutions	p. 40
LDP Dominance	p. 46
The Bureaucracy	p. 48
Constrained Policy-Making Power of the Prime Minister	p. 49
The Iron Triangle in Sum	p. 53
The "High-Water Mark" of the Japanese Economy - A "Model" of Financial Liberalization: 1980 to 1985	p. 55
Introduction	p. 55
Financial Liberalization at the Forefront of the Transition	p. 57
Collapse of Bretton Woods	p. 57
Inflationary Monetary Policy	p. 59
Low Transactions Cost of Institutional Change in Finance	p. 61
Advances in Computer and Telecommunication Technology	p. 62
Financial Redesign and Financial Liberalization in Broad Perspective	p. 63
Japan Commences Financial Liberalization	p. 68
Financial Liberalization Becomes Official Policy in Japan	p. 75
Redesign of Japan's Financial System	p. 76
Japan as a Model of Financial Liberalization and Central Bank Policy	p. 80
An Accident Waiting to Happen - The Bubble Economy from 1985 to 1990	p. 83
Introduction	p. 83
Japan's Fundamentally Flawed Financial Liberalization Process	p. 84
The Bubble Economy in the Second Half of the 1980s - the Beginning of the End	p. 90
Japan's Bubble and Burst of the Bubble a la Minsky	p. 92
The Story up to 1990	p. 99
Economic and Financial Distress from 1990 to 2001 and the Turning Point	p. 101
Introduction	p. 101
Government Response to the Economic and Financial Distress of the 1990s	p. 105
The Turning Point: Koizumi	p. 119
Why Did the Economic and Financial Distress Last So Long?	p. 123
Introduction	p. 123
Japan-Specific Restraints on Institutional Redesign	p. 125
General Restraints: Bank of Japan Policy	p. 136
Deflation Is a Serious Problem	p. 137
Why Did the BOJ Permit Deflation?	p. 139
Koizumi and the BOJ	p. 142
General Restraints: Japan's Fiscal Program	p. 143
The Transition of Political Institutions in the 1990s and the New Century	p. 148
Introduction	p. 148
Political Corruption and Call for Political Reform	p. 150
The LDP's Split and Fall from Power, Electoral Reform, and Party Realignment	p. 151
Economic and Financial Distress and Government Inaction	p. 154
Electoral Reform and Implications for Prime Minister Leadership	p. 157
Administrative Reform and Implications for Prime Minister Leadership	p. 160
Central Bank Reform and Political Implications	p. 163
The Policy-Making Process during the Koizumi Administration	p. 166
Political Economy of Japan's Fiscal Program	p. 172
Introduction	p. 172
Fiscal Conservatism out the Window in the 1990s, Except in 1997	p. 173
The General Budget: Pre-1990s	p. 176
The General Budget in the 1990s	p. 183
Fiscal Consolidation Debacle of 1997 in Detail	p. 189
The Redesign of Japan's Fiscal Policy: Hashimoto and Koizumi	p. 193
The FILP Budget: Pre-1990s	p. 196
Redesign of the FILP Budget	p. 197
Koizumi Administration's Reform in Broad Perspective: Fiscal Consolidation and Market Reform	p. 201
Introduction	p. 201
Reducing Government Spending	p. 203
Reform of Government Programs and Institutions	p. 207
Postal Privatization	p. 216
Restructuring of Government Financial Institutions	p. 217
Privatization of Japan Highway Public Corporations	p. 218
Closure or Privatization of Other Public Corporations	p. 219
Reforming the Relationship between the National and the Local Governments - Devolution	p. 220
FILP Budget Reduction Manifests the Combined Effect of Koizumi's Policies	p. 221
Administrative Reform and Amakudari	p. 222
Other Economic Policy Reforms	p. 223
Accounting for Koizumi's Success	p. 226
Koizumi: Lasting Influence?	p. 229
Japan's Corporate Governance, Labor Practices, and Citizens' Social and Economic Life at the Beginning of the New Century	p. 235
Introduction	p. 235
What Are Japanese Companies Like Now?	p. 237
New Corporate Governance Institutions	p. 242
Adverse Consequence of Restructuring for Japanese Workers: Increase of "Nonregular" Workers and Personal Financial Fragility and Instability	p. 246
Increasing Income Inequality and Poverty: Japan Is Not the Egalitarian Society that It Was	p. 249
Decline of Population and Birth Rates, Population Aging, and Their Effects	p. 256
Women, Work, and Birth Rates	p. 259
Immigration is Not an Immediate Solution for Workforce Decline	p. 263
Japan's Welfare Regime: Implications for the Economy and People Today and in the Future	p. 264
Japan's Welfare in Comparative Perspective	p. 265
Expected Economic and Social Difficulties in the New Century	p. 273
Overview	p. 278
Japanese Political Economy in the First Decade of the New Century	p. 280
Introduction	p. 280
Economic Reform and the Economy	p. 281
Demographic and Socioeconomic Challenges	p. 285
Generational Replacement	p. 286
Power of the Prime Minister: Lasting Influence of Koizumi	p. 288
The Bureaucracy in the New Japan	p. 291
Public Opinion, Policy Competition, and Potential for Change in Government	p. 294
A Final Note	p. 298
References	p. 299
Index	p. 307
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Japan Since 1980

Japan Since 1980

9780521672726

0521672724

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review