|
|
 |
|
Viewing report
|
|
|
|
Executive Report on Strategies in Japan
ICON Group International, June 2007, Pages: 393
How to Strategically Evaluate Japan
Perhaps the most efficient way of evaluating Japan is to consider key dimensions which themselves are composites of multiple factors. Composite portfolio approaches have long been used by strategic planners. The biggest challenge in this approach is to choose the appropriate factors that are the most relevant to international planning. The two measures of greatest relevance are “latent demand” and “market accessibility”. The figure below summarizes the key dimensions and recommendations of such an approach. Using these two composites, one can prioritize all countries of the world. Countries of high latent demand and high relative accessibility (e.g. easier entry for one firm compared to other firms) are given highest priority. The figure below shows two different scenarios. Accessibility is defined as a firm’s ease of entering or supplying from or to a market (the “supply side”), and latent demand is an indicator of the potential in serving from or to the market (the “demand side”).
Framework for Prioritizing Countries
Demand/Market Potential Driven Firm
Relative Accessibility
Accessibility/Supply Averse Firm
Relative Accessibility
In the top figure, the firm is driven by market potential, whereas the bottom figure represents a firm that is driven by costs or by an aversion to difficult markets. This report treats the reader as coming from a “generic firm” approaching the global market - neither a market-driven nor a cost-driven company. Planners must therefore augment this report with their own company-specific factors that might change the priorities.
Latent Demand and Accessibility in Japan
This report provides an extremely detailed overview of factors driving latent demand and accessibility in Japan. Latent demand is largely driven by economic fundamentals. But, latent demand only represents half of the picture. A country may at first sight appear to be attractive due to a high latent demand, but it is often less attractive when one considers at the macro level how easy it might be to serve that entire potential and/or general business risks.
Chapter 2 deals with macro-accessibility. While accessibility will always vary from one company to another for a given country, the following domains are typically considered when evaluating macro-accessibility in Japan:
Openness to Trade in Japan
Openness to Direct Investment in Japan
Local Marketing and Entry Strategy Alternatives
Local Human Resources
Local Risks
Across these domains, a number of not-so-obvious factors can affect accessibility and risk. These are also covered in Chapter 2, which is presented from the perspective of an American firm, though it is equally applicable to most firms entering Japan. This chapter has been authored by local offices of the U.S. Government. I have included a number of edits to clarify the provided information as it relates to the general strategic framework.
In Chapter 3, I summarize the economic potential for Japan over the next five years for hundreds of industries, categories, and products. The goal of this chapter is to report my findings on the real economic potential, or latent demand, represented by Japan when defined as an area of dominant influence. The data presented are the result of various spatial econometric and time-series forecasting models which, for each category presented, are applied to forecast and allocate latent demand across all countries of the world and major distribution centers or centers of dominant influence within each country. This is accomplished knowing that economic fundamentals (e.g. income) generally vary from one country to another within a given country over time. In this chapter, I report the allocation for each category for Japan as an area of dominant influence in Asia and, potentially, the world.
The report concludes with trade indicators for Japan. Often, the amount of trade flowing into and out of a country is a strong indicator of trading partners, trade openness, and related latent demand. Trade indicators are purely statistical in nature. Although international trade is not a direct measure of latent demand, it does provide an indicator of general market conditions with respect to trade flows and trade openness in Japan.
As a whole, this report presents a strategic assessment of Japan by considering an extremely broad set of factors affecting both latent demand and accessibility, as outlined in the following chapters.
MACRO-ACCESSIBILITY IN JAPAN
Economic Trends and Outlook
Japan is the United States’ largest non-NAFTA trading partner. It is also the world’s second largest economy. Japan’s annual output is almost equivalent to that of Germany and France combined. It is roughly three and a half times the annual output of China, and nine times that of India.
The pressing need for Japanese firms to restructure and lower costs has been felt in terms of layoffs or reductions in salaries, wages, and bonuses. At the same time, however, the push to find more cost-effective ways of doing business has led to a reexamination of traditional keiretsu and other buyer-supplier relationships. Manufacturers have begun to look for ways to bring in high-quality, low-cost components and materials from foreign suppliers. Should such developments continue, overseas suppliers will see new opportunities in some areas of the Japanese market, although they will be challenged to supply products at competitive prices.
The ongoing process of financial and corporate restructuring also means that opportunities for foreign direct and portfolio investment are on the rise. With banks focused on consolidation and balance sheet improvement, Japanese firms are increasingly looking overseas for investment capital. Further, consolidation and reorganization throughout the Japanese corporate sector has led to a wave of asset sales--properties, plant and equipment, and subsidiary companies--as firms seek to spin-off poorly performing or non-core elements of their operations. Some of the most noteworthy foreign investment deals in recent years have occurred in the financial sector, where the failure of some institutions and the need to return nationalized assets to private hands led to a relaxation of long-standing barriers and negative attitudes toward foreign investment. Business tie-ups, joint ventures, and distribution affiliations between foreign and Japanese financial services providers have also accelerated as new opportunities arise as a result of financial deregulation. Improvements in land and labor mobility have also raised new possibilities for greenfield investment, although entry costs for some industries still remain high.
A key demographic trend with profound implications for Japan in years to come is the aging of its population. Because individual health care expenditures rise rapidly after the age of 60, the graying of Japan’s population will lead to a substantial rise in spending on health care over the next three decades. By 2025, the Ministry of Health and Welfare predicts that more than one in four Japanese will be 65 or older (up from about one in seven now). As a result of this demographic shift, fewer workers will have to support more retirees, and productivity per worker will need to climb to maintain national output. This will have implications for the pattern of demand, with greater opportunities in health care and retirement industries.
Dynamic Markets
Following the U.S.-Japan Framework Agreement of 1993, new opportunities developed for U.S. companies to sell to Japanese Government entities, especially in the fields of computer hardware and software, telecommunications, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and construction services. In recent years, the Japanese Government has taken several measures to increase access for foreign suppliers to the government procurement market. They voluntarily expanded the number of agencies and lowered the threshold procurement amount covered under WTO rules. In addition, they revised the following procurement activities so that they now:
Hold annual seminars to provide anticipated procurement information
Provide more transparency through public announcements
Provide advance notice of single tendering procedures
Provide separate announcements for procurement under the WTO
Provide an on-line system for Internet access to all GOJ procurement announcements
Use the overall-greatest-value evaluation method for telecommunications and medical technology products over 800,000 SDR’s
Use complaint review procedures
A wide range of construction projects is now open to competitive bidding. Construction tenders are regularly announced in the industry newspapers “Kensetsu Kogyo Shimbun and Kensetsu Tsushin Shimbun.” Under the WTO Agreement, to which Japan is a signatory, 47 prefectures and 12 government-designated cities have begun to improve opportunities for motivated U.S. companies to sell to Japanese local governments.
Japan is the world’s second largest market for information technology equipment and services (telecommunications, computers, peripherals, software, and multimedia). Current investment in telecommunications infrastructure is $40 billion annually. Japan’s recent exponential growth in the market demand for networking, for IP/broadband-based communications, Internet applications, wireless communications (3G, wireless LAN, etc), and satellite communications is expected to continue for the next decade.
Surveys have shown that Japanese houses are two to three times more expensive than equivalent American houses, and many Japanese people are not satisfied with either the quality or price of their current housing stock. In contrast, imported American-style homes are regarded as offering high quality, low cost, and earthquake resistance. Hundreds of U.S. companies in building materials, manufactured housing and home building industries are already working with Japanese companies to build American-style 2x4 platform frame construction homes in Japan.
Over the next several years, a multitude of new opportunities should be seen in regional markets outside Tokyo as price-pressured key buyers show increased receptivity to foreign-supplied goods in leisure, as the Japanese worker finds more time and money to spend off the job; in retirement communities and health care with the “graying” of Japanese society, as well as in meeting the needs of the handicapped; and in changing and broadening consumer tastes, as the Japanese consumer has become more cosmopolitan with greater exposure to foreign products. Pressure to reduce Japan’s large fiscal deficit will inevitably have some impact on infrastructure spending, particularly in such traditional priorities as roads and airports. However, new areas such as information technology infrastructure and a continued shortage of housing will still provide opportunities for foreign suppliers. In the final analysis, even an economically sluggish Japan remains a prime market that should not be ignored or neglected. Major regional opportunities are described below.
Tokyo
The population of metropolitan Tokyo and the neighboring prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba exceeds 31 million, equivalent to the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas combined. Tokyo is the governmental, business, higher education, information, media, fashion, and cultural center of Japan. Most major Japanese companies, trade associations, and foreign companies have their headquarters or major branches in Tokyo. A presence in Japan usually means a presence in Tokyo. Despite the high cost of residential and commercial office space, most U.S. companies establish a presence in Tokyo because of the need to interface with their Japanese customers, obtain market information and, in many cases, to maintain relations with Japanese government ministries. Consumers in Tokyo are more likely to come into contact with foreign products, food and styles than elsewhere in Japan, and consumer trends and fashion often originate in Tokyo.
Kansai
“Kansai” is the historical name given to the nine-prefecture region of western-central Japan, consisting of Osaka, Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Nara, Wakayama, Mie, Fukui, and Tokushima (note: these last three prefectures are also “claimed” by other regions). The Kansai region has a richly varied topography and covers an area with a radius of approximately 150 km (95 miles). While occupying only 10% of Japan’s total land area, the Kansai has a population of some 24 million people (19% of Japan’s total), mainly concentrated in the cities of Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Nara.
The Kansai region is Japan’s second-largest industrial, financial, commercial and population center after the Tokyo area (Kanto). It is the birthplace of the country’s trading companies, home to several of the world’s largest banks, the world’s fourth-largest stock market, and scores of the world’s largest corporations.
Kansai offers many advantages to American companies looking to enter the Japanese market. Lower prices than Tokyo provide an incentive for firms to conduct business in the Kansai area -- the average office rental price is approximately 80% of Tokyo’s and the initial deposit can be less than a third; labor and housing costs are also much lower than Tokyo’s. Nevertheless, Osaka is the third most expensive city in the world, according to a well-known survey; Tokyo is the first. The region affords superb transportation, communication and other infrastructure support. In addition, there is a progressive environment with a pragmatic, non-bureaucratic business orientation and the willingness to innovate. Kansai is the home of tens of thousands of important Japanese companies and the center of Japan’s textile and apparel, sporting goods, electronic component, pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
Eighty-eight Japanese corporations were listed in “The Fortune Global 500” (July 22, 2002), of which 23 were Kansai-based companies. In addition to being the headquarters of such large companies as Sumitomo, Matsushita, Sanyo, Minolta and Sharp, the region is also a center of medium and small enterprises, which provide employment to 92 percent of the local work force. Many of Japan’s foremost trading companies started in Osaka, a city with a population of over 2.6 million (8.8 million in Osaka Prefecture, 7% of Japan’s total population). The highly competitive and entrepreneurial Osaka business community is always willing to try new ideas. For example, Japanese instant noodles, “karaoke,” business hotels, automatic vending machines and underground shopping malls all made their debut in the Kansai before being adopted in other parts of Japan, making Kansai a great point of entry. Consumers in the Kansai have a reputation for being particularly choosy and demanding, so that many companies, including Procter and Gamble, consider the area to be a great place to do product testing and market acceptability studies.
Although the numbers are down over the last several years, Kansai local governments (Hyogo and Osaka Prefectures and the cities of Kobe and Osaka in particular) still have public works projects planned that amount to several hundred billion dollars. As in previous years these consist of massive land reclamation and improvement, complexes for commercial use, industrial and research facilities, and waterworks and waterfront projects (e.g. Kansai International Airport, Kansai Science City, the Ashiyagawa Island Development Project, the Asia and Pacific Trade Center and the North Hankyu Rail Urban Redevelopment Project).
Incubation facilities, such as Imedio (Incubator for Multimedia Industry Osaka), the Business Innovation Center Osaka, Kyoto Research Park (KRP), and the Kobe Industrial Promotion Center, offer office space as well as consultation services for new businesses. While not available until recently, such business incubator space, tax breaks for new businesses, and other economic development incentives are now increasingly commonplace.
Kansai also has great strengths in the biotechnology field with a concentration of pharmaceutical, chemical, textile, and precision machinery companies that have diversified into the bio-genome industry. Along with these private companies are many national, prefectural and university-affiliated research laboratories, creating a community of researchers, academics and businesspersons. With more than 1,000 private research institutions in the Kansai, as well as an accumulation of university research institutions, Kansai is a hub for research and development in Japan. This works to promote technology transfer and exchange of technical information as well as to support the establishment of venture companies resulting from their research.
Over one-third of foreign affiliates operating in Kansai are in the manufacturing sector, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals, general machinery and electrical machinery, while the rest are engaged in non-manufacturing areas such as the wholesaling of machinery, chemicals, and consumer goods, as well as the information technology and service sectors. One of the most significant recent trends has been the rapid expansion of U.S. companies in the retail sector with store openings for CostCo, Office Depot, Ace Hardware, Tiffany’s and Chelsea Premium Outlets over the past several years. The Starbucks and Seattle’s Best coffee house chains have also been expanding apace.
Because of its geographical and traditional proximity to the Asian continent, trade with Asia is particularly large in the Kansai region. More than 50% of Kansai’s exports and imports are within Asia.
Commercial Service Osaka-Kobe aggressively promotes and advocates for American companies, especially in public works projects, sporting goods, apparel, textile, housing, as well as medical, biotechnology, environmental, and high-tech industries. Working closely with the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) and other regional multipliers, CS Osaka helps promote American products, services and tourism through a number of ways and means such as targeted events, U.S. Pavilions at trade fairs, market research on emerging commercial opportunities, business counseling, networking, partnership searches, key introductions, and advocacy. For more information visit our CS Japan Web site at: http://www.buyusa.gov.
Chubu Region
Strategically located midway between the Tokyo and Osaka metropolitan areas, the Chubu Region of Japan consists of nine prefectures, Aichi, Ishikawa, Fukui, Gifu, Mie, Nagano, Shizuoka, Toyama, and Yamanashi, clustered together in the center of Honshu, Japan’s largest island (though some of these prefectures are also claimed by other regions, as noted above). Taken together, these nine prefectures have a total population of 21 million, making Chubu the third most populous region in the country. Most of the region’s population and industry is concentrated along the Pacific coast, in an area known as the Tokai Region (Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, and Mie Prefectures).
Chubu is the manufacturing heartland of Japan and an export powerhouse. Supported by well-developed infrastructure and advanced manufacturing technology, the region is home to world-class Japanese manufacturers Toyota Motor Corporation, Daido Steel, Brother Industries, Makita, Denso Corporation, Yamazaki Mazak, INAX, Suzuki Motor, Yamaha, Noritake, NGK Insulators, and many others. The region as a whole accounts for roughly 17 percent of Japan’s GNP and roughly half of Japan’s total trade surplus with the United States.
The political, economic, and transportation center of the region is the City of Nagoya and surrounding Aichi Prefecture. Aichi ranks first among all Japanese prefectures in terms of the monetary value of its product shipments. Nagoya is one of Japan’s premier industrial and technological centers as well as a huge market in its own right. Despite being a major economic center, the city is well known for its high quality of life and competitive business costs. Housing costs and office rents are substantially below those found in Tokyo or Osaka. The city government and the Nagoya Chamber of Commerce and Industry have been actively promoting foreign direct investment in the region. Dana Japan, Cabot Microelectronics, TRW Steering Systems, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and PPG Industries are but a few of the many American firms that have set up manufacturing or distribution bases in and around Aichi. American chains Kinko’s, Toys’ R Us, Starbucks, and The Sports Authority have also opened outlets in the area.
The Nagoya Station neighborhood symbolizes urban development in the region. The JR Central Tower opened above the station in March 2000. This multi-million dollar project, which includes a 780 room Marriott hotel, has redefined Nagoya’s skyline and injected cosmopolitan style into the city’s hospitality and retail industries.
Through its close relationship with Chubu public and private sector entities, the Commercial Service in Nagoya works to uncover commercial opportunities for U.S. firms in a variety of sectors. CS Nagoya believes that particularly good prospects exist for U.S. firms in architectural design and construction services, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), environmental remediation, automotive recycling technologies, and general aviation services.
Kyushu/Yamaguchi Region
The Kyushu/Yamaguchi Region, located in the southwestern Japan, is the nation’s fourth largest economic center, representing about 10 percent of the national economy and population. The eight-prefecture region’s GRP for fiscal year 2001 (the latest data available) was $388.6 billion (at yen 125.13 per dollar), comparable to that of South Korea and Australia. Asia Week Magazine selected Fukuoka as “the most livable city in Asia” in 1997, 1999 and 2000. This region is also known as Japan’s gateway to Asia and enjoys extensive cultural, trade and tourism ties with continental Asia, particularly South Korea, Taiwan and China. While the United States is the region’s largest single trading partner, both exports to and imports from Asia are roughly 45-50%.
Kyushu’s economic dynamism stems from its diversified economy and the development of its services sector and high-tech industries. This includes a 30% share of Japan’s total production of semiconductors, for which Kyushu has been dubbed Japan’s “Silicon Island.” As a leading center for research, Kyushu hosts numerous R&D facilities in such diversified fields as nuclear fusion, robotics, ceramic materials and high-speed ocean transport carriers. Japan’s commercial and research space-launching facilities are based in Kagoshima in southern Kyushu. More traditional industries important to Kyushu include steel and automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding, tourism, and agriculture.
Many sectors of the Kyushu/Yamaguchi economy offer promising business opportunities for American firms. Major American companies already have established research and production facilities in electronics, computers, and medical devices, and are also active in architecture, design and construction, energy, insurance and finance. In recent years U.S.-based investment funds have made major acquisitions of hotels and related leisure facilities in Kyushu. Another sector of growing interest is environmental products and services, particularly focused in Kitakyushu City, a historical center of heavy industry that is seeking to become a regional leader in the environmental sector. Ongoing major development projects in Kyushu region include the Kyushu University Relocation Project, the New Kitakyushu Airport, new port facilities in Kitakyushu and Fukuoka, and Fukuoka City’s man-made Island City reclamation project.
Northern Japan
Hokkaido and Tohoku have a population of 15.5 million and a GRP of approximately $417 billion, slightly larger than the economy of Mexico. Hokkaido is Japan’s northernmost island, approximately 511 miles north of Tokyo. Sapporo, Hokkaido’s capital and largest city, has a population of 1.8 million. The Tohoku region consists of six prefectures in northern Honshu, Japan’s main island. Tohoku’s economic commercial center is Sendai (population one million) the capital of Miyagi Prefecture.
The region is Japan’s agricultural heartland, with dairy and farming in Hokkaido and Japan’s highly prized rice growing regions in Akita and Miyagi. With a GRP of $180 billion, Hokkaido supplies 11 percent of Japan’s agricultural products, including 100 percent of sugar beet production (3.8 million tons), 41 percent of milk, 77 percent of potatoes, 50 percent of onions and 12% of Japan’s fish catch.
High internal transport cost in Japan can sometimes double the costs of products shipped from the United States to seaports and airports in northern Japan. Container traffic from the United States is increasing at the ports of Ishikari and Tomakomai (both near Sapporo), as well as Hachinohe (Aomori Prefecture) and Sendai, promising to reduce transportation costs. There are also increasing numbers of U.S. containers arriving in northern Japan from Pusan, South Korea, (with which Ishikari port has a special tie-up agreement); Pusan’s port and cargo handling charges are much lower than in Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka ports.
Northern Japan’s well-developed infrastructure, highly skilled workers, and relatively low real estate costs, combined with city and regional government investment incentives, have prompted many U.S. companies to view Hokkaido and Tohoku as attractive locations for investment and overseas operations. Home building products and interiors, packaged homes, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, marine products, and outdoor leisure goods are particularly promising import sectors in northern Japan.
Northern Japan’s two main international airports -- Chitose (Sapporo) and Sendai--have good passenger and cargo handling capacities and are eager to develop more international routes. Growing economic ties with the Russian Far East, as well as the prospect for future development of Russia’s oil and gas sector, have led to regular commercial flights between Hokkaido and Sakhalin.
Okinawa Prefecture
Okinawa Prefecture, population 1.35 million, is a sub-tropical archipelago also known as the Ryukyu Islands, located 2.5 hours south of Tokyo by air. Okinawa’s economy depends heavily on construction, tourism, government public investment, and services.
The prefectural government has invested heavily in strengthening the tourism infrastructure and a number of new high-quality resort hotels are being built. Okinawa offers U.S. suppliers potential business opportunities in design, architecture and interior furnishing for resort hotels and other related fields. Companies specializing in outdoor/leisure activities, including sporting goods, marinas, boating, diving and fishing equipment and related services may also find attractive business opportunities in Okinawa. In addition, the southern islands of Miyako and Ishigaki are the sites of large tourism development projects. There are plans to build a new international airport on Ishigaki, as well as plans to build an additional runway offshore at Naha International Airport on the main island.
Several special development zones in Okinawa offer tax and other benefits to foreign investors in trading, information and telecommunications, and resort businesses. U.S. service companies have found it profitable to locate their back office operations in Okinawa, taking advantage of the youngest, cheapest and most under-employed workforce in Japan. Okinawa’s economy is also influenced by its role as home to a number of U.S. military installations and a major portion of the 50,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Many business opportunities supplying the U.S. military bases in Okinawa are available and Okinawans are particularly receptive to the introduction of American consumer goods, in large part because of their familiarity with such goods because of the U.S. military presence. Okinawa could also be used as a platform for stimulating demand for U.S. goods elsewhere in Japan by targeting the 5 million free-spending Japanese tourists who visit Okinawa annually.
Agricultural Production
Japanese agricultural production is steadily contracting on a year-by-year basis, with key sectors seeing decreasing production in most years. Cereals, rice, dairy, beef and pork, and fruits and vegetables are all sharing this decline to greater or lesser degrees. Efficiency is hampered by the small and scattered nature of farmlands and by inordinately high input costs. Increasingly strict environmental regulations also limit any economies of scale for Japanese agriculture. The government and the farm cooperatives still have a powerful influence over farmers’ decisions regarding production, pricing and marketing. In an attempt to differentiate their products, some producers are raising organic products aimed at Japanese consumers who have concerns about the use of agricultural chemicals.
While the Japanese food market is open to a vast number of U.S. agricultural products, market access problems for a range of products remain a concern for U.S. producers and exporters. Due to persistent negotiations in the WTO by the United States and others throughout much of the 1980’s and 1990’s, Japan has eliminated many of the agricultural market access barriers for which it was once famous. Where earlier quotas and outright bans restricted the market for U.S. beef, citrus, fruit juice, cherries, apples and ice cream, all of these markets have now been opened. However, access issues still hamper farm trade due to high tariffs on processed food products, restrictive plant quarantine measures on fruits and vegetables, trade-limiting quotas, complicated labeling practices, strict inspection requirements on imported goods and time-consuming approval processes for products of biotechnology.
The combination of the improved market access and declining domestic production resulted in excellent export growth for American agriculture through most of the 1990’s, making Japan our top overseas export market. About 20 percent of all U.S. agricultural, forestry and fishery products exports, valued at $12 billion, are destined for Japan. While exports have suffered a setback since 1997 due to Japan’s on-going recession, tough third-country competition and food safety concerns, long-term prospects are excellent for the following reasons:
Growing consumer demand for value plays to U.S. strengths (U.S. foods typically cost less than local products)
Japanese agriculture continues to decline, leading to increased dependence on imports for stable food supplies
Continued westernization of the Japanese diet away from fish and rice toward meats, dairy products and other American staples. Export stars include pork, ice cream, broccoli, citrus, wine, cherries, processed snack foods, nuts, and dried fruits.
For additional information about U.S. agricultural, food, fishery product exports to Japan and other countries, please see the Foreign Agricultural Service Homepage at http://www.fas.usda.gov.
Government Intervention Risks
Traditionally, the bureaucracy -- created in 1868 -- has played a leading role in the Japanese economy. The ministries’ power was drawn from the thousands of required licenses, permits and approvals that tightly regulated business activity in Japan and by informal, but in practice virtually compulsory, edicts called “administrative guidance.” The reach of the bureaucracy has been further extended by a plethora of organizations that perform semi-regulatory functions. Business in Japan has maintained very close relations with the bureaucracy and politicians--a set of relationships commonly referred to as the “iron triangle.” Japanese ruling party politicians have depended on contributions by business. Major companies and industry associations also provided lucrative “amakudari” (“descent from heaven”) employment for high-level bureaucrats retiring from government service. Bureaucratic paternalism blocked new companies from entering the market and pushed up prices. Members of the Japanese National Diet (parliament) have small staffs and traditionally have relied on bureaucrats for policy initiatives and the drafting of legislation.
The role of government institutions in the economy has been changing over the last several years
Customers who bought this item also bought
The Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc. - Financial and Strategic Analysis Review
Analyzing the Energy Industry in Japan
Demand for IT Services in the Domestic Japanese Market
Generics in Japan
The Kansai Electric Power Company, Inc. Nuclear Operational Analysis
Economic and Infrastructure Analysis for the Japanese
Industry Report – Japan Roundup
Biometrics in Japan: A Strategic Reference, 2006
The Medical Device Market: Japan
Agricultural Products in Japan
Competitive Positioning Strategies for Japanese Biotech Companies
Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. - Financial and Strategic Analysis Review
|
|
|
|
