Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Theory
- 2 The political economy and economic system of Japan: A survey of literature, conflict and confusion
- 3 Informal aspects of Japanese economic policy
- 4 Informality and monetary policy: an operational framework
- Part II The institutions and their policies
- Part III Empirical evidence
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Informal aspects of Japanese economic policy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Theory
- 2 The political economy and economic system of Japan: A survey of literature, conflict and confusion
- 3 Informal aspects of Japanese economic policy
- 4 Informality and monetary policy: an operational framework
- Part II The institutions and their policies
- Part III Empirical evidence
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
It appears that the informal structure of transactions in Japan is receiving greater attention as scholars seek to approximate empirical reality more closely.
Y. Murakami and T.P. Rohlen (1992)The informal system, the driving force of Japanese activities, is a native Japanese brew, steeped in a unique characteristic of Japanese culture.
C. Nakane (1970)Introduction
As has become clear from the analyses of the Japanese political economy and economic system presented in chapter 2, a significant number of scholars stress the importance of informal factors in the public–private sector relationship in Japan. For example, in the previous chapter the informal organisation approach was introduced, which, according to Murakami, ‘provides the most useful explanation of the key feature of the postwar Japanese economy’ (Murakami 1987, p. 55). Upham (1987, p. 204), states that ‘informality is preferred by every level of government and in all areas of government–citizen contact’. And Haley (1991, p. 163) is emphatic regarding the enforcement of government policy:
What distinguishes Japan is the persuasive resort to informal enforcement in contexts that seem to require formal regulations in other industrial states. In Japan informal enforcement is not a process of governing, but has become the process of governing. It is used to implement nearly all bureaucratic policy, whether or not expressed in statute or regulation, at all levels of government and all administrative offices.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Informality and Monetary Policy in JapanThe Political Economy of Bank Performance, pp. 33 - 76Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002