International Arms Collaboration: Euro-Japanese Collaboration in Aerospace

Abstract

Three economic powers, namely the EC, Japan and the USA, dominate the world economy. With a GDP of about US$5000 billion each in 1989 the EC and the USA are the world’s two largest markets. Although Japan’s GDP is substantially less than this, Table 9.1 reveals that it is still equal to the GDP of the three largest EC member states combined. Moreover, income per head in Japan is greater than anywhere in the EC or the United States. Japan’s military expenditure is constrained to 1 per cent of GDP. Because Japan’s GDP and the proportion of it allocated to defence are relatively small, Japanese defence expenditure is less than that in both the EC and the United States. However, as Table 9.1 reveals, in absolute terms Japanese defence expenditure is similar to that of any of the individual EC member states.

This research was carried out under the SPSG/ESRC programme on Defence, Science and Technology Policy.