A Theoretical and Empirical Study on the Transformation of the Japanese Economy

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The purpose of this study is to analyze the industrial transformation of the Japanese economy. The Japanese machine tool industry is particularly selected as the case study, and factors related to growth and industrial transformation are analyzed theoretically and empirically. The Japanese machine tool industry did not enjoy high productivity at its origins, and so-called "Japanese technology" was formed in the process of catching up with Western industries. This process of catching up is not particular to the machine tool industry, but is common to the entire Japanese manufacturing sector. This study attempts to formulate this process in economic theory and to test this hypothesis.After the Second World War, new Western technology was introduced by purchasing blueprints and prototypes. Through the R&D process of numerially-controlled (NC) machine tools in the 1960s and computerized NC (CNC) machine tools in the early 1970s, Japan caught up with the Wastern level of technology. The tim … More e of industrial transformation was specified as being 1976 by the Chou test of the model which hypothesizes the growth of the industry.One of the successful factors of the Japanese machine tool industry is its collaboration with electronics and computer makers in the R&D process of CNC machine tools. They mutually combined the superior aspects of each technology, and this made it possible for Japanese makers to be ranked best in the world. On the other hand, Western makers attempted to undertake the R&D process by themselves by making use of their own technological superiority.The characteristics of Japanese technological innovation is that the R&D process of one product becomes the basis of the process of the next product. This is carried out in succession. I hypothesize this as the "continuous R&D process". A contrasting example to this theory is found in the "leapfrogging model, " which is now referred to as the model of East Asian growth. The latter emphasizes skipping the R&D process by introducing the most advanced technology available at a particular time. Although this seems to be an efficient way of proceeding with R&D,it always depends on foreign technology and thus their own technology cannot be formed. The continuous R&D process is the key to explaining why the Japanese machine tool industry has maintained the top position in the world. Less