This book illuminates the characteristics of the Japanese economy comprehensively and analyses how and why they have been changing. The contributors to this fifteen-paper volume are internationally-known and leading researchers of the Japanese economy. Following the overview chapter, the book covers such areas as the Japanese firm, the labour market, consumption and saving patterns, financial markets, macroeconomic policies and international economic relations.

Inhalt

Preface - Notes on the Contributors - The Japanese Economy in Transition: Introduction and Overview; M.Okabe - PART 1: THE JAPANESE FIRM AND THE LABOUR MARKET - Long-termism and the Japanese Firm; P.Sheard - Financial Structure and Managerial Discretion in the Japanese Firm: An Implication of the Surge of Equity-related Bonds; A.Horiuchi - An Analysis of Labour Mobility in Japan; T.Tachibanaki & A.Taki - Is the Tenure-Earning Curve Really Steeper in Japan? A Re-examination Based on UK-Japan Comparison; G.Brunello & K.Ariga - PART 2: CONSUMPTION, SAVING, INVESTMENT AND GROWTH - Consumer Behaviour in Japan under Financial Liberalization and Demographic Change; W.Takahashi & Y.Kitamura - Saving, Investment, and Capital Mobility: Lessons from Japanese Inter-regional Capital Flows; R.Dekle - High Economic Growth and Its End in Japan: An Explanation by a Model of Demand-lead Growth; H.Yoshikawa - PART 3: THE FINANCIAL MARKETS, MONETARY POLICY AND THE POLICY INSTITUTIONS - The Rise and Fall of the Bubble Economy: An Analysis of the Performance and Structure of the Japanese Stock Market; F.Kon-ya - Bubbles, Bursts and Bail-outs: A Comparison of Three Episodes of Financial Crises in Japan; K.Hamada - Evolution of the Main Bank System in Japan; T.Hoshi - Monetary Policy in Japan: A Perspective on Tools, Transmission Channels and Outcomes; M.Okabe - The Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve: Financial Liberalization, Independence, and Regulatory Responsibility; T.Cargill - PART 4: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS - Is Japan Establishing a Trade Bloc in East Asia and the Pacific?; J.Frankel - Recent Balance of Payments Developments in Japan: Is the Current Account Surplus Structural or Temporary?; M.Uchida & T.Ui - Structural Changes in Japanese Long-Term Capital Flows; S.Takagi - Index