Institutions, Industrial Upgrading, and Economic Performance in Japan: The ‘Flying Geese’ Paradigm of Catch-up Growth

Terutomo Ozawa examines Japan’s once celebrated post-war economic success from a new perspective. He applies a ‘flying geese’ model of industrial upgrading in a country that is still catching-up, to explore the rise, fall and rebound of Japanese industry with its evolving institutions and policies.

The book brings together and expands upon theories developed in the author’s work over many years, using them as building blocks for his flying geese model. Concepts explored include:

• economics of hierarchical concatenation, increasing factor incongruity, comparative advantage (or market) recycling
• the Ricardo-Hicksian trap of industrial production, Smithian growth elan, triumvirate pro-trade structural transformation
• knowledge creation versus knowledge diversion, the price-knowledge/industry-flow mechanism ‘a la David Hume’
• he syndrome of institutional incongruity, and socially justifiable moral hazard versus degenerative moral hazard.

The dynamic process of industrial upgrading is analysed in detail, and important lessons for both developing and transition economies are highlighted.

This fascinating book will attract a wide-ranging readership, encompassing practitioners and academics interested in international business, economic development, trade, and political science. In addition, sociologists focussing on business and industry, and researchers on, and policymakers in, developing and transition economies will also find this book of immense interest.