Japanese Political Economy Revisited

Abenomics and Institutional Change

David Chiavacci, Sébastien Lechevalier, David Chiavacci, Sébastien Lechevalier

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781138606944
• eBook ISBN: 9780429884559
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

During the last 30 years, the Japanese political economy system has experienced significant changes that are usually not well understood or analysed because of their complexity and contradictions. This book provides new analyses and insights on the process of evolving Japanese political economy including Japan's current economic policy known as Abenomics. The first three chapters looks at evolutions at the corporate level, characterised in recent years by increasing firm heterogeneity. The authors apply theoretically driven analyses to the complex subject of corporate governance, human resource management and corporate reporting by discussing new developments in context of their economic opportunities as well as of their institutional contradictions with continuities in Japanese business practices. The second group of chapters deals with institutional changes and evolving economic reforms on the macro level of political economy. The two chapters focus on the financial system regulation and economic growth policies as two central elements of Japan's political economy and key drivers in the evolution of its economy. Their analysis allows us to better understand the interplay between reforms and change in consumption credit and to reinterpret Abenomics as a manifestation of ongoing contradictions within the Japanese political economy.

The chapters were originally published in a special issue in Japan Forum.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• 1. Japanese political economy revisited: diverse corporate change, institutional transformation, and Abenomics
• 2. Change and continuity in Japanese corporate reform
• 3. Shareholding characteristics and imperfect coverage of the Stewardship Code in Japan
• 4. 'Growth oriented' corporate governance reform - can it solve Japan's performance puzzle?
• 5. The Japanese consumer finance market and its institutional changes since the 1980s
• 6. Re-packaging old policies? 'Abenomics' and the lack of an alternative growth model for Japan's political economy
• Index