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Zusatztext The strong point of the collection is the way in which the authors address a wide array of pressures that will force adjustments within the Japanese economy and the economic policies of the government. Klappentext This volume fills an important gap in the existing economic literature. While much has been written about Japan's pre-1990s institutions and economic performance! this text is unique in its forward-looking orientation - trying to understand not only the institutional and structural changes that have already reshaped Japan in the 1990s! but to identify the critical trends and institutional changes that will mould Japan's new economy over the next decade. Zusammenfassung Japan's economy stumbled in the 1990s. After four decades of rapid growth that transformed Japan into a wealthy country at the world's technological frontier, the last decade brought prolonged economic stagnation. The rapid run-up in asset prices in the late 1980s, followed by their collapse in the early 1990s, left a debt overhang that paralyzed the banking sector. Policy reforms were initially half-hearted, and businesses were slow to restructure as the global economy changed. The lagging economy has seemed impervious to aggressive fiscal stimulus measures and is still plagued by ongoing price deflation. Japan's struggle has called into question the ability of the country's economic institutions - originally designed to support factor accumulation and rapid development - to adapt to the new economic environment of the 21st century.Yet Japan's economy is already changing. Driven by an aging population, rapid technological change, and increasing global competition, the country's public and private institutions are being slowly reshaped. This volume explores the forces that will drive structural and institutional change in three areas over the next decade: the macroeconomy, the organization of industry, and the global economic and political environment. Economists, demographers, and Japan specialists examine key aspects of the economy that will be transformed in coming years, including population and savings, the public pension system, labor markets, financial reforms, deregulation of service industries, productivity performance, foreign investment, trade, and the impact of an emerging China. The volume fills an important gap in the existing economic literature. While much has been written about Japan's pre-1990s institutions and economic performance, this volume is unique in its forward-looking orientation - trying to understand not only the institutional and structural changes that have already reshaped Japan in the 1990s, but to identify the critical trends and institutional changes that will mould Japan's new economy over the next decade. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1: David E. Weinstein: Historical, Structural, and Macroeconomic Perspectives on the Japanese Economic Crisis 2: Andrew Mason and Naohiro Ogawa: Population, Labor Force, Saving, and Japan's Future 3: F. Gerard Adams and Byron Gangnes: Will Japan's Current Account Turn to Deficit? 4: Charles Yuji Horioka: Japan's Public Pension System in the Twenty-First Century 5: Marcus Rebick: Japanese Labor Markets: Can We Expect Significant Change? 6: Thomas F. Cargill: Central Banking, Financial, and Regulatory Change in Japan 7: Takatoshi Ito and Michael Melvin: Japan's Big Bang and the Transformation of Financial Markets 8: Edward N. Wolff: Has Japan Specialized in the Wrong Industries? 9: Örjan Sjöberg and Marie Söderberg: The Sogo Shosha: Finding a New Role? 10: Sumner La Croix and James Mak: Regulatory Reform in Japan: The Road Ahead 11: Magnus Blomström, Danise Konan, and Robert E. Lipsey: FDI in the Restructuring of the Japanese Economy 12: Steven Globerman and Ari Kokko: A New Millennium for Japanese-North American Economic Policy Relations? 13: Ari Kokko, Bruce Henry Lambert, and Fredrik Sj...