Systemic Changes in the German and Japanese Economies

Convergence and Differentiation as a Dual Challenge

Edited by Werner Pascha

Price: $160.00

Add to Cart

About the Book

Should Japan and Germany strive to restructure their institutional fabric and arrangements to make them more similar to Anglo-American standards? Where will systemic change lead? This book offers fresh insights by collecting Japanese and German contributions to this scholarly discussion both from theoretical and empirical viewpoints. A major conclusion of several papers is that the forces of differentiation are frequently underestimated. Important thematic issues include: contingency, path dependence and complementarity. Examinations of economic globalisation and rapidity of technological change pose questions about the nature of socio-economic system analysis in the future.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Part I: The Contribution of Theory to Convergence 1. Systemic Change, Convergence, and Institutional Choice - An Introduction and a Summary 2. Japanese Theory of Industrialization/Modernization: Between Liberalism and Developmentalism 3. The Evolutionary Perspective on Institutional Divergence and Competitive Advantage 4. A Comparative Institutional Analysis of Japanese Computer Network Systems Part II: The Pressure for Institutional Change in Japan and Germany 5. Evolution, Spatial Self-Organization and Path Dependence: Tokyo's Role as an International Financial Centre 6. Technology and Innovation Management in German and Japanese Manufacturing Firms: Strategic Reorientation and Implications for Technological Competitiveness 7. Japanese and German Corporate Governance in Transition: Forces of Change and Persistence Part III: The Impact on the Economy: What Must Change, What Can Stay? 8. The Japanese Firms Purchasing System: Strategic and Structural Changes of the 80s and 90s 9. Implementation of Standards: What About the Possibility of a Convergence Production System by International Rules 10. Flexible Rigidities and Redundant Capacities: Liberalization of Employment in Japan and Germany Part IV: Consequences for Public Policy 11. Coping with Market Rigidities in Germany and Japan 12. The Changing Role of Higher Education in the Process of Internationalisation and Globalisation - A Japan-Europe Comparison

About the Author(s)

Werner Pascha is Professor of East Asian Economic Studies at Duisburg-Essen University, Germany