Office hours: 8-8:20, 9:30-10:25 MWF, or by appointment--Waters 312. (Note: there will be no office hours, but there will be one-hour examinations, on September 24 and November 12.) [Note also that the class on Wednesday, September 29 (a video on the Japanese economy) will be in Waters 329.]

Analyzes Japan's growth, productivity change, income distribution, government policies, agriculture, industrial structure, labor relations, education and technology, and international trade and finance. Emphases will be on U.S.-Japanese competition and comparisons. Pr. ECON 110.

Required texts:

Richard Katz, Japan - The System that Soured: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1998).

Yoshihara Kunio, Japanese Economic Development, 3rd edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

Are the two authors discussing the same country? During the semester, it will become clearer that you can partially reconcile what may appear to be contradictory views.

Objectives:

The main goal of the course is to understand Japan's rapid economic growth since 1868, and from World War II to the 1990s; and the collapse in Japan's economic growth since the early 1990s. Kunio emphasizes the reasons for Japan's economic development success, while also examining the dark side of development. Katz stresses that the protectionism and industrial policies that contributed to success during catch-up from 1945 to 1990 no longer worked in the 1990s when Japan was a mature economy. Indeed Katz argues that these policies will increase the gap between Japan and the highly industrialized countries such as the United States and Germany during the early part of the 21st century.

In examining Japan's long-term (one to two centuries), middle-term (since World War II), and short-term (a decade) economic development and income distribution, we will analyze (1) U.S.-Japanese productivity growth differentials, (2) Japanese economic institutions, (4) the role of government in Japanese development, (5) foreign trade and investment in Japan, especially its bilateral economic relationships with the United States, and (6) the applicability of Japan's strategies to other economies.

Resources on the Current Japanese Economy:

Newspapers or magazines with frequent news about the Japanese economy include the Economist and the Wall Street Journal. For those with fixed terminals, the Financial Times and the New York Times occasionally have news about the Japanese economy.

KSU library resources are limited, but the internet has resources, including several that you can eventually get by starting at the library's home page.

http://www.jbusiness.com/index.html includes the most recent summaries of Japanese economic news. On campus (or by clicking library on KSU's home page, you have access to Lexis-Nexis that would enable you to get information on the Japanese economy by topic. If you wish to get recent news about Japan, click Japan on the world map. The Yahoo! page on the Japanese economy is at http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~nroubini/asia/AsiaHomepage.html. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is at http://www.oecd.org/, with national-income statistics at http://www.oecd.org/std/nahome.htm.

http://www.asahi.com/english/english.html will get you the daily Asahi Shimbun in English. http://www.mainichi.co.Jp/english/ will get news from the daily Mainich Shimbun in English. The Far Eastern Economic Review (HC 411.F18 and previous www.stern.nyu source) is a weekly that sometimes has news on the Japanese economy. This list is just a start.

Grades:

I plan three one-hour examinations, each to be given a weight of one unit, and a final examination, weighed two units. I have indicated tentatively the coverage of each one-hour examination (the readings and corresponding lectures just before the listing of the examination). The exam is essay/problem (see exams the last time this course was taught, fall 1995, with an occasional short identification or explanation question. Please bring a blue book for each examination.

Students who make excellent contributions to class can raise their semester numerical grades.

Graduate students are required to write a paper or to present a twenty-minute talk to the class. This paper or talk is worth one and one-half units for graduate students.

Alternative to the Second or Third Exams:

For either or both the second and third exams, the student may write a paper instead of taking the exam, provided the student notifies the instructor in writing (e.g., on a 3" by 5" card) what topic he or she is writing on by the second class after the previous exam; notifies the instructor in writing of any changes in the topic; attends class regularly; and hands in the paper at or before the time the exam is given. (In the past, one student both took the exam and wrote the paper, enabling that student to get the better of the two grades!) The average length of the paper is about 7-12 pages. You are expected to use acceptable bibliographical and citation procedures (if in doubt, use the procedures of a recent American Economic Review). Feel free to hand in an earlier draft so that I can give you comments that will allow you to improve your paper (but give me a few days to respond), or ask questions about your progress at earlier stages of work on your paper.

A student may instead present a 20-minute or so talk, as long as the student notifies the instructor as indicated in the previous paragraph. In addition, the student must arrange with the instructor ten days in advance to present the talk, which should be given near the time the subject is discussed in class.

No alternative is possible for the first exam, Friday, September 24, or for the final exam, Wednesday, December 15, 11:50 a.m.-1:40 p.m., in the classroom. All students are required to take these exams.

Honor system: The university has an honor system based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance that in academic matters one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Undergraduate Honor System. The policies and procedures of the Undergraduate Honor System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. A prominent part of the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by undergraduate students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: "On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work." This statement means that the student understands and has complied with the requirements of the assignment as set forth by the instructor. For more information, refer to http://www.ksu.edu/honor

1. Introduction to the Course--Mon., Aug. 23

2. The Historical Course of Japan's Economic Development (Kunio, preface, ch. 1, pp. 1-34) (for Wed., Aug. 25)

3. The Characteristics of Development (Kunio, ch. 2, pp. 35-57)

4. What Happened to Japan's Economic Miracle? (Katz, ch. 1, pp. 3-26)

5. Japan's Deformed Dual Economy (Katz, ch. 2, pp. 29-46)

6. Trade and Development (Kunio, ch. 3, pp. 58-81)

7. Preconditions for Economic Development (Kunio, ch. 4, pp. 82-110)

8. Meiji and Occupational Institutional Reforms for Growth (Kunio, ch. 5, pp. 111-129)

EXAMINATION, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

9. Human Capital, Business Organization, and the the State (Kunio, ch. 6, pp. 130-173) Video - Understanding the Japanese Economy - Wednesday, Sept. 29, class is in Waters 329

10. Pathologies of Japan's Development (Kunio, ch. 6, pp. 174-192)

11. Hollowing Out Exports: Driving Away the Geese That Lay the Golden Eggs (Katz, ch. 3, pp. 47-54)

12. From Growth Superstar to Economic Laggard (Katz,ch. 4, pp. 55-74)

13. The Politics of Japanese Economic Policy (Katz, ch. 5, pp. 75-106)

14. The System Succeeds in the Era of Catch-Up, 1955-73 (Katz, ch. 6, pp. 107-164)

15. The System Sours, 1973-90 (Katz, ch. 7, pp. 165-196)

16. Economic Anorexia, 1990-2000: From Bubble to Bust (Katz, ch. 8, pp. 197-238)

17. If Poland Can Reform, Why Not Japan? (Katz, ch. 9, pp. 239-249)

EXAMINATION

18. Asia Versus Japan in the Race to Reform (Katz, ch. 10, pp. 250-257)

19. Japan's Peculiar Trade: Too Few Imports, Too Few Exports (Katz, ch. 11, pp. 258-271)

20. Is Japan Opening Up? (Katz, ch. 12, pp. 272-288)

21. Beyond Revisionism and Traditionalism: A New Paradigm (Katz, ch. 13, pp. 289-317)

EXAMINATION, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3

22. The Early 21st Century: Whither Japan? (Katz, ch. 14, pp. 318-346)

23. The Japanese Development Model: Its Implications for Developing Countries (Kunio, ch. 8, pp. 193-202

FINAL EXAMINATION, WEDNESDAY, December 15, 11:50 a.m.-1:40 p.m., THROCKMORTON 1012