The role of Japan in the international economy: a private view

In earlier times economists used to view the world in terms of dual economic models. For Marx the Asiatic mode of production(1) was the concept which was the counterpart of the Western feudalism from which the capitalist regime and bourgeois society emerged: Weber regarded the Confucian prebendary state as the pair of the Protestant civic society.(2) At the time, however, the various countries conforming to the Asiatic mode of production and the Confucian states played no more than a marginal role on the world economic stage and, though they might have been objects for exploitation by the capitalist nations of the west, they could not be equal competitors. For this reason the mechanism possessed by these obverse models (ideal types) was never subjected to in-depth analysis. (1) Marx's view of the Asiatic mode of production appears in various places throughout his many publications. See, for example, "Capital", vol.III (Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1966) p.791. V Melotti, "Marx and the Third World", (Macmillan, 1977) is a convenient synthesis of these writings for those wishing to know more about the manner in which Marx perceived Asia. (2) M Weber, 'Konfuzianismus und Taoismus', in "Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Religionssoziologie", vol.1, (J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], Tübingen, 1920)

Microfoundations

This paper argues that the microfoundations programme can be understood as an implementation of an underlying methodological principle—methodological individualism—and that it therefore shares a fundamental ambiguity with that principle, viz, whether the macro must be derived from and therefore reducible to, or rather consistent with, micro-level behaviours. The pluralist conclusion of the paper is not that research guided by the principle of microfoundations is necessarily wrong, but that the exclusion of approaches not guided by that principle is indeed necessarily wrong. The argument is made via an examination of the advantages claimed for dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models, the relationship between parts and wholes in social science, and the concepts of reduction, substrate neutrality, the intentional stance, and hypostatisation

Microfoundations

The paper argues that the microfoundations programme can be understood as an implementation of an underlying methodological principle, methodological individualism, and that it therefore shares a fundamental ambiguity with that principle, viz, whether the macro must be derived from and therefore reducible to, or rather consistent with micro-level behaviours. The pluralist conclusion of the paper is not that research guided by the principle of microfoundations is necessarily wrong, but that the exclusion of approaches not guided by that principle is indeed necessarily wrong. The argument is made via an examination of the advantages claimed for dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models, the relationship between parts and wholes in social science, and the concepts of reduction, substrate neutrality, the intentional stance, and hypostatisation

A historical transformation from feudalism to 'capitalism'

'Where feudalism ends, the capitalist regime commences.' This familiar and prima facie self-evident statement is the proposition which I want to examine in this paper. I would argue as follows: Even given the uniformity of feudalism everywhere in the world (i.e. if it has always appeared in its purest form with no deviation from the logically constructed ideal type), it must have appeared in combination with many other elements such as, for example, whether a country has an oceanic or continental climate, the types of weapons available in a society, the type of religion most influential in the lives of the people there, and so forth. These additional elements must also play significant roles; so where combinations vary, different types of economy (or society) must be obtained after any transition from feudalism to a more developed mode of production. It may thus be conjectured that even if feudalism were unique, capitalism as a result of the transition would not be unique. The present paper aims to confirm this conjecture by comparing aspects of the history of Japan with that of England

Wage differentials in Japan: 1958-85

The market is a place where people behave quite relentlessly. If one person is selling a particular commodity at a higher price than others, no one will buy that commodity from him, however virtuous or merciful he is known to be. Of course, the actual world does not always work exactly in this way, but if it works too differently, the case is regarded as being an exceptional one. Thus, the assumption that the market is a relentless place is acceptable as a first approximation ot the real world

Ideology and economic activity

In considering ideology and economic activity, ideology is defined as a system of beliefs which binds people together into a social grouping. This is synonymous with religion as defined by Durkheim (1912) and, as a definition of religion, it may be too wide; but if this definition is adopted, both Confucianism and Marxism are 'religion'. In any case, there are two broad-based classes of approach to this problem, Marxian and Weberian. The former regards ideology which, together with such institutions as the state, family structure, etc., constitute the superstructure of the society, as being no more than a reflection of underlying basic material conditions. The latter, on the other hand, approaches from the superstructure to the base and establishes the reverse relationship. As will be seen later, neither of the two approaches alone can serve for the intepretation of a social historical process. To achieve this we must use both approaches and examine interdependence and interaction between materialistic or economic factors, and ideological or religious ones

The production of technologists and robotization in Japan

When Japan embarked upon her forced march to build a modern nation in 1868 the resource upon which she was most able to rely was her labour force. This was of a considerable size, and certainly not of a poor quality. According to Ronald Dore, at least 40% of Japanese males at that time had received a basic level of education. In international terms this was a very high figure for the time. Furthermore, the Japan of that time had already more or less fulfilled many of the preconditions enabling the appearance of modern companies and corporations and guaranteeing their domestic development. The language of Tokyo was already in essence the country's standard language, in common use, at least as the official language, almost everywhere throughout the country. Something else of considerable importance was that both samurai and merchants regarded it as a virtue not to break their word; hence it was easy to establish a contractual society. Furthermore, they were all well aware that it was not a good thing to get public and private mixed up