The Japanese Civil Service and Economic Development: Catalysts of Change - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198289383 ISBN 13: 9780198289388

Publisher: Clarendon Press, 1995

Synopsis

This volume analyzes how the Japanese civil service has contributed to Japan's phenomenally successful economic growth, and provides much new information about its structure, function, and policymaking activities. It emphasizes the degree of competitiveness within the Japanese bureaucracy; the extent to which political authority, rather than formal power, is wielded; and the way in which government policy has stimulated market forces. Written by experts in the field, this work will be invaluable to economists and policymakers interested in the Japanese system and in models for developing and transitional economies.

About this title

About the Author

Hyung-Ki Kim is Division Chief for Studies, World Bank Economic Development Institute. Michio Muramatsu is a Professor in the Faculty of Law at Kyoto University. T.J. Pempel is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin. Kozo Yamamura is Job and Gertrud Professor of Japanese Studies, University of Washington.

From the Back Cover

This volume analyses the way in which the Japanese civil service has contributed to Japan's successful economic growth and the lessons - both positive and negative - that experience may offer for other developing countries. It provides rich new information about the structures, functions, and policy-making activities of the Japanese civil service. Its emphasis is on the degree of competitiveness within the Japanese bureaucracy, the extent to which political authority rather than formal power is relied upon, and the ways in which the civil service played indispensable roles in formulating and administering policies to enable the economy to achieve high performance over time. In short, the volume's most important lesson is that a competent and motivated civil service can contribute to economic growth in substantive ways by altering the incentives of firms and local governments without unduly restricting market forces. The volume also includes chapters that caution against overestimating the roles of the civil service.

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarendon Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198289383
• ISBN 13: 9780198289388
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 574
• Editor: Kim Hyung-Ki, Muramatsu Michio, Pempel T. J., Yamamura Kozo