Abstract
Over the last 20–30 years, Japanese main firms have actively developed their overseas business sectors––especially in Asian countries––and have thus become multinational firms. As is well known, this has played an important role in establishing an international division of labor in the East Asian zone. However, what impacts has this multinationalization had on the Japanese economy and its mode of régulation? In short, what relationship can we find between the multinationalization of Japanese firms and structural transformations within the Japanese economy? This study approaches this question while bearing in mind our concept of “companyist régulation.” Let us first explain the concept of “companyism” or “companyist régulation.”
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Notes
- 1.
This spelling relates to French régulation theory that analyzes the dynamic processes that channel capital accumulation and the long-term evolution and present diversity of capitalism.
- 2.
Here, we use the word “East Asia” to denote Asian newly industrializing economies (NIEs) (i.e., South Korea , Taiwan , Hong Kong, and Singapore), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members (the five original members of Thailand , Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore and the five new members of Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar), China, and Japan. Singapore is both an NIE and an ASEAN member. In the ASEAN statistics that follows, some countries may be omitted.
- 3.
However, the percentage of procurement from the Japanese overseas affiliates within each country accounts for one-third in all local procurement. So, if one were to combine this figure with that of procurement from Japan (i.e., imports from Japan), the procurement ratio from Japan would be, in a broad sense, about 50% (See METI 2014b: Figure II-3-2-20).
- 4.
Collective bargaining is generally held at the firm level in Japan. “Spring Offensive” was introduced as platform for which labor unions would surpass individual negotiations. It is a united campaign by labor unions, led by Industrial Unions. It is launched every year between March and April, the main aim of negotiations being higher wages.
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Hirano, Y., Yamada, T. (2018). Multinationalization of Japanese Firms and Dysfunction of Companyist Régulation . In: Boyer, R., Uemura, H., Yamada, T., Song, L. (eds) Evolving Diversity and Interdependence of Capitalisms. Evolutionary Economics and Social Complexity Science, vol 11. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55001-3_16
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