Exports, imports and economic growth in South Korea and Japan: a tale of two economies (original) (raw)
Related papers
Does export lead growth? evidence from Japan
2017
Japan shifted towards export-led growth strategy in the 1980s. This study analyzes the role of export performance in the Japanese economic growth. In order to examine the causal relationship between exports and economic growth, the study applied standard time series techniques. The results indicate that imports are important in positively affecting economic growth, indicating that economies should permit a greater flow of imports into the domestic economy through lowering trade barriers. Secondly, in terms of the role of exports, the evidence of export-led growth for Japan indicates that there is a strong argument for governments to follow an export-promotion strategy thereby providing exporters greater incentives to export, for example, by implementing export subsidies and adopting a favorable exchange rate policy. This analysis indicates that export growth tends to have positive long-run effect on output growth in Japan, which thereby supports the export-led growth hypothesis.
Trade in the shadow of power: Japanese industrial exports in the interwar years
The Economic History Review, 2020
During the interwar years, Japanese industrialization accelerated alongside the expansion of industrial exports to regional markets. Trade blocs in the interwar years were used as an instrument of imperial power to foster exports and as a substitute for productivity to encourage industrial production. The historiography on Japanese industrialization in the interwar years describes heavy industries’ interests in obtaining access to wider markets to increase economies of scale and reduce unit costs. However, this literature provides no quantitative evidence that proves the success of those mechanisms in expanding exports. In this article we scrutinize how Japan— a relatively poor country—used colonial as well as informal power interventions to expand regional markets for its exports, especially for the most intensive human capital sector of the industrializing economy. Our results show that Japanese exports in 1938 would have been around one-third smaller had no empire ever existed, which indicates an outstanding effect of empire in the international context.
Japan ’ s growing Asia focus : Implications for Korea
2004
Japan's growing Asia focus Over the past decade the Japanese economy has increasingly turned toward Asia. Perhaps the first indication of this was the 'Asian flu' episode of 1996-7 when the Japanese and other Asian financial markets collectively nose-dived. After the collapse of Japan's 'bubble economy' at the end of 1989, outward FDI (especially toward the US) virtually collapsed. This initial collapse was then followed by an investment boom in Europe, as a countermeasure to 'fortress Europe.' The most recent phase, which we might date from 1999 (after recovery of the Asian countries from the crisis of 1997), has been quite different. This new phase has been characterized by a new Asia focus of outbound Japanese FDI. Furthermore, the changing patterns of trade, which have seen China and Korea become increasingly important trade partners for Japan. In this paper, I explore these stylized facts, and the implications for the economies of the countries involved, particularly Japan and Korea. While export growth has been reasonably strong for Japan since 2000, this has been far more pronounced with respect to export growth to East Asia in general, and especially to China. While exports to the US and EU grew by 40% since 1990, those to East Asia in its entirety have doubled, and those to China have more than tripled (Canadian Embassy, 2004). Indeed, most of this growth has occurred since 2000. Not surprisingly, this export growth has been focused on components and capital goods, supporting both indigenous manufacturing growth in the region, and Japanese FDI. This boom has helped to support not only high tech components manufacturers, but also otherwise moribund producers in industries such as steel and heavy equipment.
Japan and the Asian Economies: A "Miracle" in Transition
Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1996
Japan and the Asian Economies: A "Miracle" in Transition ONE EAST ASIAN country after another has taken off from a stagnant state to achieve an annual economic growth rate of 10 percent or more. The fact that such high economic growth rates are being sustained, along with observation based on growth convergence regressions that prior economic and social conditions do not seem to have warranted such rapid growth, has led many to call the East Asian growth a miracle. ' However, this is not the first time that an Asian country has grown miraculously fast. From the mid-1950s until 1973, Japan grew at a rate comparable to that of the East Asian economies today. And just as concerns are voiced today that some East Asian economies are overheating and their governments face the difficult task of inducing a " softlanding," a similar concern was heard in Japan three decades ago. Japan's high rate of growth from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s was a topic explored by many studies at the time. Several authors believed that Japan's economic institutions and policies were unique, and that its growth was an exception to the rule. In light of the rapid growth of the other East Asian economies in recent years, this earlier Japanese experience is no longer viewed as exceptional. The success of the East Asian economies offers fresh case studies for development economics and growth theory. The World Bank study The East Asian The views expressed are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representative of the staff or trustees of the Brookings Institution or the International Monetary Fund. David Weinstein offered constructive comments and helpful suggestions for revising the paper. The comments of other participants at the Brookings Panel meeting, in particular, Jeffrey Frankel, Edward Lincoln, and Yung Chul Park, were also very helpful. Tokuo Iwaisako provided excellent research assistance. 1. See, for example, World Bank (1993), Page (1994), Easterly (1995), and Campos and Root (1996). 3. Representative examples from the 1970s include Ohkawa and Rosovsky (1973), Patrick and Rosovsky (1976), Denison and Chung (1976a, 1976b), and Ohkawa and Shinohara (1979). Long-term statistics for various sectors, as well as aggregate variables, are collected in the fourteen volume series Estimates of Long-Term Economic
Is Japan a Pioneer in High Technology Exports
The Romanian Economic Journal, 2019
One of the most powerful economies in the global economic system is Japan. Nowadays the global economic system is facing many economic and political challenges. Owing to the fact that Japan is one of the most powerful economies, it has to maintain or enhance its economic power in order to face the upcoming challenges. Japanese economic growth is a combination of export growth, private investment and consumption. In order to overcome slow growth, Japan launched "Abenomics", a policy based on three "arrows": bold monetary policy, flexible fiscal policy, and a growth strategy. Despite the adoption of Abenomics, Japan's economy has to overcome three major challenges. First, government debt continues to rise as a percentage of GDP. Second, Japan is faced with declining population growth, which reduces its potential economic growth. The Japanese population is aging fast and, as a result this will limit growth and productivity because of a shrinking and aging labour force. The most important challenge for the Japanese economy is potential economic competition from China in high-technology products. Japan is facing increasing competition from China. The main economic advantage that Japan maintains is its high technological development in several sectors. The aim of this paper is to show whether Japan has a Revealed Comparative Advantage in high-technology exports. The methodology adopted is the theory of comparative advantage.
The Transition to Export-Led Growth in Korea, 1954-1966
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
2010
Although Japanese economic growth after the Meiji Restoration is often characterised as a gradual process of trend acceleration, comparison with the United States suggests that catching-up only really started after 1950, due to the unusually dynamic performance of the US economy before 1950. A comparison with the United Kingdom, still the world productivity leader in 1868, reveals an earlier period of Japanese catching up between the 1890s and the 1920s, with a pause between the 1920s and the 1940s. Furthermore, this earlier process of catching up was driven by the dynamic productivity performance of Japanese manufacturing, which is also obscured by a comparison with the United States. Japan overtook the UK as a major exporter of manufactured goods not simply by catching-up in labour productivity terms, but by holding the growth of real wages below the growth of labour productivity so as to enjoy a unit labour cost advantage. Accounting for levels differences in labour productivity between Japan and the United Kingdom reveals an important role for capital in the catching-up process, casting doubt on the characterisation of Japan as following a distinctive Asian path of labour intensive industrialisation.