J-Economy, J-Corporation and J-Power since 1990 : From Mutual Gain to Neoliberal Redistribution

Abstract

Once hailed as superpower and benchmark of Post-Fordism management, Japan’s economy and its corporations are taken as negative example of insufficient compliance to neoliberalist policies. This book demonstrates that the problems of Japan’s economy and corporations are more universal: encountering the limits of mass-industrialised production and consumption, large corporations fail to ignite innovation by decentralisation and bottom-up participation. Instead, they increase their returns by ongoing cost reduction and centralization, adhere to large-scale technology, fuel profits into M&A to defend their traditional business models and privilege capital providers and top executives.