Politics And Productivity: How Japan’s Development Strategy Works

What more can be learned from yet another book about Japanese industrial policy? This one does well by explaining how the Japanese "developmental" approach blends protection, targeting and "controlled competition." Case studies of telecommunications, semiconductors and aircraft show how policy has been shaped by politics, bureaucracy and the network of relations among Japanese businessmen. The authors make a good case for the view that "development policy continues" and is carried out through selective governmental intervention that combines promotional policies with "a loving band of protectionism" for important emerging and declining sectors.