This paper analyzes the structure of the Japanese economy as an "economic superpower" dependent on exports and foreign demand, in terms of the reproduction schema of Marxian theory. The foundations of Japan's post-war economy were established during the period of rapid economic growth, based on an accumulation process led by "Department I" production, especially the production of capital goods and raw materials. In the mid-1970's, global recession forced Japanese industry to adjust to new circumstances, and Japanese companies gained greater international competitiveness, particularly in the automotive and electric sectors and others related to the machine industries. This was due to the adoption of "slim management" and the introduction of micro-electronics technologies. "Slim management" reduced employment and capital investment, increasing labor intensity and efficiency in order to build up capital more effectively. The significance of "slim management" for Japan's reproduction structure was that it not only realized sharp production increases and greater international competitiveness but also brought about a contraction of domestic demand in both investment and consumption. As a result, the Japanese economy became dependent on exports. Domestic demand grew more than exports from the latter 1980's into the 1990's, but the Japanese economy again became more deeply dependent on foreign demand from the late 1990's on. In the 2000's, foreign demand drove an increase in domestic output by the automotive, industrial machinery, metal products, and chemical products industries, despite the concurrent expansion of Japanese companies' electrical equipment factories elsewhere in Asia. Domestic demand showed less growth than domestic output during this period, much as it did in the second half of the 1970s, because Japanese companies in the leading industries were maintaining and strengthening their competitiveness by employing more non-regular workers (including dispatched workers, contract workers, part-time workers and others) than regular employees. The result has been the contraction of the domestic economy, because the "contradictions between production and consumption" in the domestic economy have inevitably widened in the face of ever-harsher competitive conditions worldwide. This analysis shows that as an "economic superpower" dependent on exports and foreign demand, Japan's economy has been founded on domestic wage differentials and on poverty and has brought about a condition of overproduction in the world economy.

抄録全体を表示

The 1973 oil shock is generally regarded as marking the end of rapid economic growth in Japan. For rural communities in Tohoku, however, 1973 did not represent an end so much as a type of beginning. The Tohoku region continued to grow economically between 1975 and 1980 and maintained its economic vitality throughout the 1980s. Even during this period, however, there was a continuous flow of labor to the cities as people sought better working conditions. The result was the collapse of the abundant labor force in rural areas, which had been the locational factor for the manufacturing that drove the "high economic growth" of Tohoku's rural communities in the first place. The trend was then solidified by the emigration of members of farming households in response to the bubble economy at the end of the 1980s. By the latter 1990s, the farming sector had lost its role as a supplier of labor, and it became increasingly difficult for companies located in rural communities to rely solely on the local labor force. The more difficult it is to locate companies in the area, the greater will be the outflow of the population, further compounding the problem. Measures are therefore needed to make the best use of the labor force existing in the region.

抄録全体を表示

The purpose of this article is to analyze the dynamism of the modern U.S. industrial structure mainly connected with the process of the growth of the service sector, informationization, and external economy. This paper analyzes the industrial diversification process in the Seattle metropolitan area as a case study of these processes. Furthermore, we discuss the importance and possibility of sustainable regional industrial and labor policy in the global era on the basis of the Seattle case study. In the 1980s, changes in the industrial composition occurred in the U.S. The relative position of the manufacturing industry decreased, while the service and financial industries grew. The aerospace and software industries are integral parts of Seattle's industrial composition and the position of both changed dynamically after the 1990s. Aerospace industry reduced as a result of restructuring of Boeing after the Cold War and IT service industry, mainly software industry, grew rapidly instead. The agglomeration and growth of Microsoft and small- and medium-sized software companies contributed to this phenomenon and were encouraged by the following factors. First, software companies regard skillful software engineers as very important resources. Second, the charm of Seattle as a place to live attracts both company founders and skillful software engineers. Third, a key local trade group (Washington Technology Industry Association, WTIA) provides useful programs such as co-buying of health care programs to software companies. We can think of these programs by WTIA as virtual local industrial policies. In the 2000s, the growth of U.S. industry and employment were delayed by a decrease in the number of the manufacturing industry employees. The software industry jumped to the position of leading Seattle industry, and software engineers living in Seattle formed the base of new industry creation, including the biotechnology and interactive media. Finally, the growth of the IT service industry in Seattle brought an increase in household income in the high-ranking range as well as globalization of the Seattle labor market. Both state and city industrial and labor policies are changing in Seattle in response to the changes in both industry and work force needs. This paper discusses the characteristics of these policies, and shows the importance and effects of community and local government-led actions on globalization.

抄録全体を表示

The aims of this article are to reveal that the Korean economy, with development of globalization, has transformed from a "state economy-oriented export-led growth model economy" into a "globalization-oriented export-led growth model economy" and to analyze its significance and limitations. Firstly, Korea's growth model in the mid-1960s through mid-1990s period can be defined as a "state economy-oriented export-led growth model economy", in which Korea depended on Japan and the United States for its capital, technology, capital goods and intermediate goods, and assembled labor-intensive products by use of its low-cost but good quality labor, and exported finished products to the U.S. market. Japan was its model that was aggressively formed by exploiting the environments of economical, international politics, and historical conditions, such as the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Plaza Accord. Secondly, with the Asian Currency Crisis in 1997 as the turning point, in the process of the prolonged and vigorously executed new liberalism-based structural reforms, Korea sought to break away from the "Japan model" and realized a "globalization-oriented export-led growth model economy". This is a "growth model in which Korea's global procurement is carried out mainly by zaibatsu or financial combine groups, while importing from Japan high value-added components, core capital goods, and intermediate goods, and exporting finished and intermediate products to the U.S., EU, and developing countries". This model, as seen in the V-shaped economy recovery process from the post-2008 global financial crisis, presents toughness in globalization. Thirdly, this growth model is susceptible to the influence of the world economy, and has instability and vulnerability in trade and finance. Korea's domestic demand has long been stagnated, slowing down the economic growth rate, which can be attributed to a weak trickle-down effect, where good achievements of large businesses are not reflected on wages or family finances. Expanding low-wage worker class and widening income gaps especially in temporary-working and small self-employed working classes are currently a serious issue. Furthermore, Korea has many pressing issues, such as the monopolization by zaibatsu or financial combine groups, etc., which results in distorting the economy and it is assessed that it should not be the growth model which Japan should aim for.

抄録全体を表示