Financial Liberalizaton and reform of Japan's ministry of finance: Implications for Japanese developmental state

College

College of Liberal Arts

Department/Unit

International Studies

Document Type

Article

Source Title

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

Volume

13

Issue

2

First Page

102

Last Page

119

Publication Date

12-30-2013

Abstract

This study analyzes the impact of government reforms on the Japanese developmental state. In doing so, it examines the case of Japan's financial liberalization after the 1997 Asian financial crisis and its effect on the bureaucratic power of the Ministry of Finance (MOF). The new politics that emerged in the 1990s provided the backdrop of the reform movement. Along with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), MOF had played a crucial role in Japan's catch-up industrialization by directing capital to favored industries and protecting weak players. The paper contends that by removing policy instruments like preferential credit and bank supervision that allowed MOF to intervene in the financial sector, the reform affected both MOF's intervening capacity and financial policy network which formed the structural basis of 'money politics' and institutional 'stickiness' of Japan's developmental state. Even so, the reform was not sufficient to completely dismantle it. © 2013 De La Salle University, Philippines.

html

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS