Introduction

Hidetaka Yoshimatsu

Chapter 1 in Internationalization, Corporate Preferences and Commercial Policy in Japan, 2000, pp 1-9 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Japan has become the second biggest economic power in the world. Its economic activities have an enormous influence on its major economic partners as well as on the world economy. In spite of Japan’s huge economic power, the internationalization of Japanese corporations does not have a long history. Although Japanese corporations penetrated overseas markets through exports in the 1970s, multinational production on a large scale in manufacturing is a relatively recent development. Some sectors, such as textiles and electronics, commenced overseas production before the 1980s, but full-scale multinational production started in the mid-1980s, triggered by rapid appreciation of the yen, a desire to avoid trade friction with developed countries, and promotion of globalization strategies. Outward foreign direct investment (FDI) by Japanese manufacturing firms expanded sharply from US$2.6 billion in 1983 to US$16.3 billion in 1989 and has maintained a high level through the 1990s (Table 1.1). Expanding multinational operations created a network of trade flows within firms. The share of exports shipped to foreign affiliates in total exports by Japanese manufacturing parent companies grew from 29.9 per cent in 1983 to 49.5 per cent in 1992, while the share of imports shipped by overseas affiliates in total imports to Japanese manufacturing parent companies rose from 20.9 per cent to 37.4 per cent in the same period. Japanese manufacturing firms have also deepened their ties with foreign companies through the creation of various webs of international corporate alliances.

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Trade Policy; Open Trade; Commercial Policy; Outward Foreign Direct Investment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-00121-3_1

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780230001213

DOI: 10.1057/9780230001213_1

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().