Abstract
As research continues on the factors responsible for Japanese economic development since the Meiji Restoration, the most commonly accepted explanations of Japan’s success have been questioned. One such explanation is that the driving force behind Japanese economic development was an abundance of low-wage labour, since this made it possible to import capital goods paid for by the earnings from labour-intensive, light-industry exports.
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Notes
For examples of these approaches, see Shigeru Ishiwata, ‘Source approach no tembo’ (A survey of the source approach), Keizai kenkyu, vol. 22, no. 1 (January 1971); Ryoshin Minami, Nihon no keizai hatten (Japanese economic development) (Tokyo: Toyo Keizai Shimposha, 1981), ch. 5;
Yasukichi Yasuba, Keizai seicho ron (A theory of economic growth) (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, 1980), ch. 5.
A more detailed explanation of this view can be found in Yukihiko Kiyokawa, ‘Obei gijutsu no juyo o meguru shomondai’ (Issues regarding transfers of Western technology), in Shakai Keizaishi Gakkai (ed.), Shakai keizaishigaku no kadai to tembo (Tokyo: Yuhikaku, 1984).
Cases where the optimal choice from the micro perspective coincides with the choice suggested by macro standards, such as the adoption of ring spinning machines, are quite exceptional. It is more common for there to be a divergence between the optimal choices. What is often seen is the adaptation of minor technology with a relatively small technological gap, for example the transformation of such technology into a labour-intensive type and changes in the mode of machine operation (such as the adoption of a two-shift system). For a more detailed analysis of the choice between mule and ring machines in Japan, see Y. Kiyokawa, ‘Technology Choice in the Cotton-Spinning Industry: The Switch from Mules to Ring Frames’, in R. Minami, K. Kim, F. Makino and J.-H. Seo (eds), Acquiring, Adapting and Developing Technologies (New York: St Martin Press, 1995).
In such cases it is crucial that the price be lowered in accordance with the reduction in quality to ensure international competitiveness. For an analysis of this issue see Shigeru Ishikawa, ‘Appropriate Technologies: Some Aspects of Japanese Experience’, in H. Robinson (ed.), Appropriate Technologies for Third World Development (London: Macmillan, 1979).
For example multiple stratification of the market. For examples of oligopolization of the product market see Y. Kiyokawa, ‘Gijutsu kakusa to donyu gijutsu no teichaku katei’ (Technology gap and adaptations of transferred technology) in (Economic development in modern Japan) K. Ohkawa and R. Minami (eds), Kindai Nihon no keizai hatten (Tokyo: Toyo Keizai Shimposha, 1975).
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© 2001 Yukihiko Kiyokawa and Mukesh Eswaran
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Kiyokawa, Y., Eswaran, M. (2001). Japanese Technological Development: The Technological Gap Hypothesis and Its Implications. In: Nakamura, M. (eds) The Japanese Business and Economic System. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230512283_7
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