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- Convenors:
-
Sebastien Lechevalier
(EHESS)
Franz Waldenberger (German Institute for Japanese Studies)
Patricia Maclachlan (University of Texas, Austin)
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- Chair:
-
Ulrike Schaede
(UC San Diego)
- Discussant:
-
Shinji Hasegawa
(Waseda University)
- Format:
- Panel
- Section:
- Economics, Business and Political Economy
- Location:
- Lokaal 2.23
- Sessions:
- Sunday 20 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Short Abstract:
Under the term “New Capitalism” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been trying to set the agenda for Japan’s socio-economic policy discourses. In this panel, we will investigate how it leads Japan to respond to a certain number of challenges.
Long Abstract:
Under the term “New Capitalism” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been trying to set the agenda for Japan’s socio-economic policy discourses, just as Abe had done with Abenomics. For sure, demographics, digitalization including AI and climate change are impacting economic systems around the world. For Japan, gender issues and rising income inequalities pose additional challenges. They equally require action both by the government and by businesses.
In this panel, we will investigate how Japan has been responding to the above changes and challenges. We will also ask how the path dependencies typical for evolutionary change are producing distinct Japanese responses and how they will transform the Japan’s system of capitalism.
The presentations will specifically look at corporate governance, innovation and employment. They will lay the foundation to critically assess the adequacy of PM Kishida’s “New Capitalism”.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Sunday 20 August, 2023, -Sebastien Lechevalier (EHESS)
Paper short abstract:
In this paper, we argue that, in order to achieve the goals of Society 5.0, Japanese stakeholders should radically change not only the system of innovation but also the very approach to innovation. In this context, promoting startups should not be a priority.
Paper long abstract:
Society 5.0 was proposed in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan (December 2015) as a future society that Japan should aspire to. According to this vision, thanks to advanced digitalization, it will be possible to promote “a human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problem by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space”. In short, in order for Japan to regain its Science, Technology & Innovation (ST&I) edge, it is proposed to apply digital technologies not only to (manufacturing) industries but also to a wide range of services and dimensions of the social life.
In this paper, we argue that, in order to achieve this goal, Japanese stakeholders should radically change not only the system of innovation but also the very approach to innovation. The key issue here is not about the promotion of startups. It is rather about the reconnection between technological dynamics and social dynamics. This means that the priority should be to try to answer to real social needs instead of promoting the acceptability of a given innovation. The focus should be on improvement of wellbeing rather than on competitiveness.
Two conditions are necessary to do so. First, Japanese stakeholders have to remember the research by economists and management specialists thirty years ago (e.g. Aoki & Dore, 1994), which showed that the success of Japanese firms mainly rests on a model of organizational innovation, rather than on technological innovation. Second, Japan should stay away from an outdated Schumpeterian model of innovation that puts too much value on creative destruction. An alternative concept and set of practices – under the label of “care-led innovation” – should facilitate “Society 5.0” by putting science and technology at the service of the society.
Franz Waldenberger (German Institute for Japanese Studies)
Paper short abstract:
As in other countries, the corporate sector plays a decisive role when it comes to achieving ambitious national climate goals of net zero by 2050. Are Japanese corporations on track? This contribution will analyze various channels by which Japanese corporations are incentivized to go green.
Paper long abstract:
As in other countries, the corporate sector plays a decisive role when it comes to achieving ambitious national climate goals of net zero by 2050. Are Japanese corporations on track? A lot will depend on the alignment of Japan’s system of corporate governance.
By applying the broader stakeholder model of corporate governance based on the “bundle of contracts” view of the corporation, this contribution will analyze various channels by which Japanese corporations are incentivized to go green – government regulations, the tax system, ESG conscious shareholders, creditors, customers and employees. It will also assess to what extent these channels are already influencing research, investment and product strategies.
Saori Shibata (University of Sheffield)
Paper short abstract:
Amid moves towards the automation of human labour and the workplace, disconnection and a lack of institutional complementarity have ensured that no coherent mode of digital regulation has been produced so far in Japan.
Paper long abstract:
Discussions on advanced automation and its benefits have intensified within the business, political and academic communities. Amid moves towards the automation of human labour and the workplace, questions are increasingly asked regarding how the government navigates digitalisation, and how digitalisation affects employment relations in each national context. This paper evaluates the degree to which digitalisation has prompted the emergence of a new (digital) regime of capitalist accumulation in the Japanese context. We argue that digitalisation-oriented institutions, namely a new mode of digital regulation, that includes the state, business and unions, have failed to emerge. Disconnection and a lack of institutional complementarity have ensured that no coherent mode of digital regulation has been produced so far, and, we argue, is not likely to emerge in the foreseeable future.
Sayaka Sakoda (Doshisha University)
Paper short abstract:
In Japan, those who leave the workforce after giving birth have remained unchanged for a quarter century while a greater part of regular workers takes maternity leave. This paper investigates how academic homogamy leans the female labour participation and governmental forecast of "New capitalism".
Paper long abstract:
From 2013, Abe and the subsequent Government focused on promoting women's labour supply. This is expected to provide a way to tackle labour shortages brought about by Japan's ageing and declining population and lead to high economic growth. Economic policies are being implemented to create a 'society where women shine'.
In 2001, 32.7% of women went on to junior college or university, but by 2022 the rate will be 53.4%, an increase of nearly 20%. In particular, since 2015, the rate of women entering university (including junior colleges) has consistently been higher than that of men. As a result, there can be seen as the fruit of (academic) homogamy (Tachibanaki and Sakoda (2013)).
By 2021 the employment rate of women aged 15-64 had risen to 71.3% and that of women aged 25-44 to 77.7% (White Paper on Gender Equality, 2022 edition). Internationally, the employment rate of women was higher than that of the USA in 2014 (Raymo and Fukuda (2016)) and above average among OECD countries (OECD (2016)), which is not low.
On the contrary, In Japan, the proportion of those who continue to work using the childcare leave system has increased to 53.1%, while the proportion of those who leave the workforce after giving birth has remained unchanged for about 25 years at 33% ('15th Basic Survey on Birth Trends'). Once she exits the labour market with the birth of their first child, and never reenters as a regular worker. (Nagase and Morizumi (2013), Yu (2009)).
The purpose of this study is to consider the issue of continuing to work for highly educated women in terms of academic homogamy while the government occurs economic policies towards the female labour force.