On November 9th and 10th, 1968, the Business History Society of Japan had her fourth annual meeting at the University of Osaka. On the first day twelve papers were read on “free topics” and on the second day the meeting was devoted to the common topic, “Comparative Studies of Entrepreneurship”.
In the opening address, Kurita explained that all the speakers had common understanding that the international difference of entrepreneurship could be perceived in its relations with social and cultural factors as well as economic conditions.
The first speaker, Professor Masaji Arai of Kansai University analysed the stagnation of the English economy during the Great Depression. and explained it by the conservatism of the English businessmen. After pointing out some of the handicaps of the leader country, he also emphasized the adverse effect of the imperial market which allowed English entrepreneurs to enjoy high rates of profit without drastic rationalisation of their business.
Professor Tadakatsu Inoue of the Kobe University confirmed the proposition that in the era of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the cultural, social, and economic conditions of the United States operated for encouraging the flow of the ablest members of the society into business and for making them devoted businessmen. The proposition was testified by the moves of some individual American businessmen.
Professor Keiichiro Nakagawa of the University of Tokyo expounded that the lack of “acquisitive attitudes” and “functionalism” in the Indian society, which he considered to be the outcome from both the Hinduism and the “joint-family” system, had been the major obstacles against the emergence of aggressive entrepreneurship. He also emphasized that the political unstability, originated from the racial, linguistic and religions diversities, had greatly hindered in India the entrepreneurial development with long term horizon. After elucidating the rise of some non-Hindu business groups, he made some comments on Morris W. Morris's interpretation of the Indian development.
Professor Tien-yi Yang of the Kyushu Industrial University elaborated that the traditional Chinese society was structured primarily on the basis of kinship, local community, ancestor worship, hierarchical and particularistic pattern of conduct. This whole structure fitted completely with the well-known “familism” of Chinese society. Kinship and territorial community played the pivotal parts in the whole network of social solidarity there, characterizing the entrepreneurship in Modern China by the supreme collective interests and business organization exclusively by such personal. relations.
Professor Kisou Tasugi of the Kyoto University maintained that the twentieth century entrepreneurship in Japan was more motivated by “promotion profit” rather than nationalism. He verified his theme by some pioneering “engineer entrepreneurs” in the chemical and electric manufacturing industries, such as Jun Noguchi, Seita Kumura and Namihei Kodaira.
After these six reports a panel discussion on this common topic was presided by Professor Mataji Miyamoto of the University of Osaka.

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