Abstract
At an academic session on Firm Organization, Banri Asanuma and Hideshi Itoh presented two very stimulating papers. Asanuma, who is an expert on subcontracting systems of the Japanese automobile industry, having focused on various aspects of supplier—assembler relationships, extended his expertise to assembler—distributor relationships. This paper is a first endeavor towards an integrated understanding of the industry in our discipline (Asanuma, 1991). Itoh attempts in his paper to survey the evidence of and explain theoretically the recent trends in organizational design in product development, less specialized functional structure and more powerful project managers (Itoh, 1991). Both papers stress the importance of horizontal coordination in Japanese organizations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Aoki, M. (1988), Information, Incentives and Bargaining in the Japanese Economy, Cambridge University Press.
Aoki, M. (1989), ‘The Nature of the Japanese Firm as a Nexus of Employment and Financial Contracts: An Overview’, Journal of Japanese and International Economics, Vol. 3 (4), pp. 345–66.
Aoki, M. (1990), ‘Toward an Economic Model of the Japanese Firm’, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 28 (1), pp. 1–27.
Asanuma, B. (1991), ‘Coordination between Production and Distribution in a Globalized Network of Firms: Assessing Flexibility Achieved in the Japanese Automobile Industry’, paper presented at the conference Japan in a Global Economy, Stockholm School of Economics.
Greif, A. (1991), ‘Cultural Beliefs as a Common Resource in an Integrating World: An Example from the Theory and History of Collectivist and Individualist Societies’, mimeograph.
Itoh, H. (1991), ‘Coordination and Specialization in Product Development Organization’, paper presented at the conference Japan in a Global Economy, Stockholm School of Economics.
Okuno-Fujiwara, M. (1989), ‘On Labor Incentives and Work Norm in Japanese Firms’, Journal of Japanese and International Economics, Vol. 3 (4), pp. 367–84.
Okuno-Fujiwara, M. and A. Postlewaite (1990), ‘Social Norms and Random Matching Games’, Discussion Paper 90-F-22, Research Institute for the Japanese Economy, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
Williamson, O. (1991), ‘Comparative Economic Organization: The Analysis of Discrete Structural Alternatives’, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 36, pp. 269–96.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1993 Thomas Andersson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Okuno-Fujiwara, M. (1993). Comments on the Japanese Economic System. In: Andersson, T. (eds) Japan: A European Perspective. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22768-6_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22768-6_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-22770-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-22768-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)