Professor：Kuo, Yujen,Assistant Professor, Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies, NSYSU

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  This course is designed to introduce the postwar development of Japanese industrial policy which features its postwar political economy development. The course is designed in accordance to the three developmental stages of Japanese industrial policy in the postwar era: First, catch-up phase (1950s to 1960s): to introduce the postwar background of Japanese industrial policy and the rapid growth period. Second, maturity and challenges phase (1970s and 1980s): to introduce the rise of social and environment protection movement, the problems derived from Japanese model, and the burst of bubble economy. Third, transition phase (1990s to current): to introduce the regulatory reforms and the changes of current industrial policy.

  This course allows students to understand the importance of industrial policy to a nation’s overall development by introducing the six-decade development of the Asian industrial giant. In addition, it will discuss several basic but yet the most fundamental issues regarding the relations between industry and policy: Is the trajectory of industrial development and evolution linear? Is it predictable and can be planned? What roles should the government play in order to promote industrial development and innovation? And who should lead the process, the bureaucrats, politicians, or big businesses? Moreover, is industrial/technological development market-oriented or policy-oriented? How could a nation fuse these two orientations and allow the development to serve the best interests of a nation as a whole?