This book is devoted to analyzing contemporary capitalism both in Japan and in the world economy by using the theoretical framework of the French regulation theory and by revisiting the theory of civil society in postwar Japan. The Japanese theory of civil society proposed unique thinking about "freedom and equality" and "human rights" in the postwar era but could not help to come up with effective concepts for an economic analysis of that capitalism of the period. On the other hand, the regulation theory born in the 1970s is well known by its definition of postwar capitalism as Fordism, based on the elaboration of a new conceptual framework, but it soon proved unable to directly explain Japan's experience by that central concept of Fordism. Inspired by consideration of Japanese civil society and also by the regulationist framework, the author has forged new analytical concepts such as "companyism" to understand Japanese capitalism including the recent "lost decades", and he elaborates more carefully the concepts of "growth regime" and "institutional change" to grasp the dynamics of the world economy including today's neoliberal trend. The original benefits of the book consist in 1) reviving a Japanese theory of civil society in the postwar period, 2) applying the regulation theory to the analysis of contemporary Japan, and 3) offering theoretical reflections on the conception of the world economy. Consequently, the author pays special attention to the relationship between the political and the economic as well as regulationist tools and the theory of civil society's perspective. The principal message of the book is that capitalism or the market economy must be supported by a sound civil society.

The contributors to Japanese Capitalism in Crisis show that there can be a middle ground between the current extremes of the Japanese economy, and offer two proposals: a deeper understanding of long term development, and an extension of existing theory.

Contents:
Introduction: a puzzle for economic theories Robert Boyer and Toshio Yamada
Part I Institutional interpretations and theories
1. Japanese capitalism and the companyist compromise Toshio Yamada
2. The hierarchical market-firm nexus as the Japanese mode of régulation Akinori Isogai, Akira Ebizuka and Hiroyasu Uemura
3. Disproportionate productivity growth and accumulation regimes Hiroyuki Uni
Part II The wage labour nexus, forms of competition, financial regime: major structural transformations
4. The capital-labour compromise and the financial system: a changing hierarchy Hironori Tohyama
5. 'Industrial welfare' and 'company-ist' régulation: an eroding complementarity Masanori Hanada and Yasuro Hirano
6. The financial mode of régulation in Japan and its demise Naoki Nabeshima
Part III What crisis and what futures?
7. The wage labour nexus challenged: more the consequence than the cause of the crisis Robert Boyer and Michel Juillard
8. Growth, distribution and structural change in the post-war Japanese economy Hiroyasu Uemura
9. Beyond the East Asian economic crisis Yasuo Inoue
10. Some limitations on Japanese competitiveness enjamin Coriat, Patrice Geoffron and Marianne Rubenstein
Conclusion: an epochal change ... but uncertian future Robert Boyer and Toshio Yamada

This book integrates three levels of political-economic analysis: first a comparative institutional analysis of the varieties of capitalism in both Europe and Asia, second a macroeconomic analysis of industrial structural change and economic dynamics of the national economies in Europe and Asia, and then an encompassing analysis of international production linkages and international financial instability which determine the long-term patterns of regional integration in Europe and Asia. The comparison of the European Union and ASEAN delivers some key conditions for a viable long-term regional economic integration to cope with contrasted capitalisms and growth regimes: either pragmatism in the choice of an exchange rate regime, or a form of fiscal federalism. The reader will also find a genuine analysis of the dynamism of the Chinese economy, a study on institutional changes and de-industrialization in Japan, and the increasing international production linkages among China, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN. It is shown how the enlargement of the European Union and the Euro triggered the diverging competitiveness and macroeconomic performances that led to the crisis of a six decades long economic and political process. This book is the result of long lasting Asian-European collaborative research. It is a milestone in the historical and comparative analysis along the regulation theory that aims at understanding the long-run transformations, renewed diversity and interdependence of capitalisms.

This book introduces the work of Yoshihiko Uchida (1913-1989), one of the most prominent Japanese thinkers on the topic of civil society in the post-World War II era. The distinctive features of Uchida's approach to civil society are his view of the metabolic relationship between human beings and nature and his call for a social science rooted in the experiences and inquiries of ordinary citizens. This original approach did not develop in a straight line from Uchida's early work to his mature period, and this book follows the twists and turns in its formation through his reflections on the relationships between "the civil" and "the capitalistic," "the modern" and "the pre-modern," "the historical" and "the trans-historical," and "science by specialists" and "inquiry by laypeople." As a historian of economic thought, Uchida pursued these topical themes by examining figures such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Hajime Kawakami, a prominent thinker in Japan. By casting a light on these inquiries, this book offers the first depiction of Uchida's body of work as a whole and in doing so illuminates the emergence of original democratic thought in post-war Japan.

This book introduces the work of Yoshihiko Uchida (1913–1989), one of the most prominent Japanese thinkers on the topic of civil society in the post-World War II era. The distinctive features of Uchida’s approach to civil society are his view of the metabolic relationship between human beings and nature and his call for a social science rooted in the experiences and inquiries of ordinary citizens. This original approach did not develop in a straight line from Uchida’s early work to his mature period, and this book follows the twists and turns in its formation through his reflections on the relationships between “the civil” and “the capitalistic,” “the modern” and “the pre-modern,” “the historical” and “the trans-historical,” and “science by specialists” and “inquiry by laypeople.” As a historian of economic thought, Uchida pursued these topical themes by examining figures such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Hajime Kawakami, a prominent thinker in Japan. By casting a light on these inquiries, this book offers the first depiction of Uchida’s body of work as a whole and in doing so illuminates the emergence of original democratic thought in post-war Japan.

This book integrates three levels of political-economic analysis: first a comparative institutional analysis of the varieties of capitalism in both Europe and Asia, second a macroeconomic analysis of industrial structural change and economic dynamics of the national economies in Europe and Asia, and then an encompassing analysis of international production linkages and international financial instability which determine the long-term patterns of regional integration in Europe and Asia. The comparison of the European Union and ASEAN delivers some key conditions for a viable long-term regional economic integration to cope with contrasted capitalisms and growth regimes: either pragmatism in the choice of an exchange rate regime, or a form of fiscal federalism. The reader will also find a genuine analysis of the dynamism of the Chinese economy, a study on institutional changes and de-industrialization in Japan, and the increasing international production linkages among China, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN. It is shown how the enlargement of the European Union and the Euro triggered the diverging competitiveness and macroeconomic performances that led to the crisis of a six decades long economic and political process. This book is the result of long lasting Asian-European collaborative research. It is a milestone in the historical and comparative analysis along the regulation theory that aims at understanding the long-run transformations, renewed diversity and interdependence of capitalisms.

This book is devoted to analyzing contemporary capitalism both in Japan and in the world economy by using the theoretical framework of the French regulation theory and by revisiting the theory of civil society in postwar Japan. The Japanese theory of civil society proposed unique thinking about "freedom and equality" and "human rights" in the postwar era but could not help to come up with effective concepts for an economic analysis of that capitalism of the period. On the other hand, the regulation theory born in the 1970s is well known by its definition of postwar capitalism as Fordism, based on the elaboration of a new conceptual framework, but it soon proved unable to directly explain Japan's experience by that central concept of Fordism. Inspired by consideration of Japanese civil society and also by the regulationist framework, the author has forged new analytical concepts such as "companyism" to understand Japanese capitalism including the recent "lost decades", and he elaborates more carefully the concepts of "growth regime" and "institutional change" to grasp the dynamics of the world economy including today's neoliberal trend. The original benefits of the book consist in 1) reviving a Japanese theory of civil society in the postwar period, 2) applying the regulation theory to the analysis of contemporary Japan, and 3) offering theoretical reflections on the conception of the world economy. Consequently, the author pays special attention to the relationship between the political and the economic as well as regulationist tools and the theory of civil society's perspective. The principal message of the book is that capitalism or the market economy must be supported by a sound civil society.