Abstract
The paths of British investment into Japan and Japanese investment into Britain in the postwar period have been alternately strewn with opportunities, obstructions and incentives. Fluctuating economic climates and government policies have dictated the pattern and direction of investment flows, as have the global ambitions of certain UK and Japanese firms. Against this broad picture, the much-observed asymmetrical relationship between British and Japanese direct investment can be seen as a phenomenon of only the last few decades. While Britain became the favoured destination for Japanese manufacturing investment in Europe in the run-up to 1992 and the formation of the Single European Market, Japan proved a more elusive goal for British manufacturers seeking to expand their interests abroad. The Anglo-Japanese trade imbalance has focused attention on bilateral disparities in general without considering the specific roots of the investment gap. In tracing the investment links forged by Britain and Japan in the postwar period, it is instructive to reflect back upon the case of a British multinational pioneer investor in Japan, to review the circumstances through which the history and pattern of Anglo Japanese investment first evolved.
Particular thanks are due to my Research Assistant on this project, Anna Spadavecchia.
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Notes
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© 2002 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Conte-Helm, M. (2002). Anglo Japanese Investment in the Postwar Period. In: Hunter, J.E., Sugiyama, S. (eds) The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600–2000. The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600–2000. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403919526_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403919526_9
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