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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sources of economic growth in Japan and in compare the results with those in the U. S. and Europe as studied by E. F. Denison. The method used by Denison is followed as far as possible. The character of this paper is of fact finding, and the interpretation of results or the originality of methodology is not dealt with here. The results may be summarized as follows. (1) Japan's growth rate is two times that of Europe and three times that of the United States. (2) The contributions of labor, capital, and the residual to economic growth are all higher for Japan than for the U. S. or Europe. (3) Factors which account for the higher contribution of labor to economic growth are (a) the higher rate of increase in employment, (b) less shortening of working hours, and (c) improved age and sex composition. (4) Factors which account for the higher contribution of capital to economic growth are a higher rate of increase in capital input and the high elasticity of production with respect in capital. (5) Other notable points include: (a) the contribution of education is lower for Japan; (b) the capital-labor ratio in Japan increased remarkably; (c) capital's share of national income is higher; and (d) 60% of Japan's economic growth is accounted for by the residual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlines the program on the Fifth Far Eastern Meeting in Tokyo, Japan. Lists of discussants for International Trade, theory of economic growth and asset of markets; Presentation of papers on econometric studies; Symposium on economic planning and econometrics of education.

The article focuses on the preparations for economic growth in Japan. The author remarks that while the main outlines of Japanese economic development during the period since the Restoration are now rather firmly blocked out, current interest in comparative development during the pre-take-off period of the growth process makes it worthwhile to re-examine the previous era, the Japanese Tokugawa period. According to him the recognition of the preparatory role of Tokugawa is seldom perceived and certainly not stressed in previous studies. Some notion of the importance of Tokugawa glimmered in the literature for years. In this article the author seeks to move away from the ambivalent treatment of Tokugawa and to assemble some of the more important factors indicating the high economic levels attained by Japan in the Tokugawa period which prepared her for the take-off of 1868. He focuses on the covering materials on population, agriculture, production, institutional changes effecting savings and growth potentials, manufacturing and trade, both internal and external.

The article discusses the causes of the high rate of economic growth and national income in postwar Japan. There has been an upsurge in the fixed investment of private enterprise, the extent of which Japan never experienced before. According to official national income statistics, private fixed investment (excluding residential construction) increased from 7774 billion yen to 4,0504 billion yen for 1955-61, about a five-fold increase in only six years. Such an unprecedented increase in fixed investment brought about an annual real GNP growth rate of about ten per cent. A glance at the estimates for consumption expenditure in the official national income statistics gives rise to the doubt that the proportion of clothing expenditures to total consumption is too low. According to data analyzed by the authors, in 1955, inter-industry table, clothing expenditure amounted to 776.4 billion yen.

The article focuses on the value system and economic development in the comprehensive theory of social change with special reference to Japan and Thailand. It supports the proposition that changes in political and social institutions will not bring about sustained economic development, unless the fundamental human values in the society are conducive to development. There are numerous similarities between Thailand and Japan. Both countries possess traditions of selective cultural borrowing over a long historical past, and both are within what might be loosely called the same general oriental culture area. In spite of these similarities, there was a wide disparity in the economic development of the two countries. The Japanese case represents an example of highly successful economic development involving a large part of the nation. In order for economic development to come about, it is essential that the value system fulfill two functions: it has to provide goals, either public or private, which can be promoted by increased production; and the value system must generate the propensities and the activities associated with them. The components of the value system may be identified primarily from religious and ethical teachings. The Thai value system centers around personal values as opposed to the Japanese emphasis on political values. It requires very little in terms of obligation or commitment to other individuals or institutions.

Japan has undergone tremendous economic and social changes. The prodigious economic growth of the 1960's has lifted Japan to third place among highly industrialized countries in terms of its gross national product. Technological innovations in industrial processes and production which have contributed to this economic development have become so widespread as to include even the process of management, and the introduction of various modern managerial techniques is making Japan into a computerized managerial society. According to the 1965 census, about 70 per cent of the total population of 98 million lives in cities, and 45 out of every 100 persons are concentrated in greater Tokyo, Japan, whose population increased by 5.5 million between 1955 and 1965. Urbanization at this speed and on such a scale has brought with it, in both urban and rural areas, many serious problems which lead to changes in the traditional outlook and customs, and, above all, in social and cultural values. The rise of new generations, the popularization of higher education, widespread ownership of television sets, etc., have contributed to these changes.

SUMMARY Power spectra and cross-spectra of Japanese economic annual series since 1879 or 1887 are estimated. The power spectral estimates suggest that long swings and business cycles are meaningful phenomena in many of the time series. Reference cycles of long swings and business cycles are determined separately from the remodulated series of the rate of change of the individual annual series at the frequencies of 1/25 cycle per year and of 1/6.5 cycle per year. They provide valuable information on Japanese economic fluctuations since the 1880's. The Rostowian stages of growth are considered in terms of these reference cycles. The cross-spectral estimates clarify the lead-lag relationships among the series. We find three key factors, loans and discounts of all banks, exports, and government consumption leading the other series and driving the rapid growth. Mechanisms of growth processes are explained by our lead-lag relationships. The transfer of labour forces among the industries and some characteristics of investment and private consumption are also considered by means of the cross-spectral estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to argue that the view is a product of deductive theorizing, conveniently suited to a general discussion of the rapid economic development of Japan, but hardly supportable when a closer examination is made of the behavior, decisions, and motivations of the leading Meiji entrepreneurs. To show that the "community-centered" entrepreneurs are a product of deductive theorizing, two closely connected points must be made. The first is that the practice of emphasizing the class origin of Meiji entrepreneurs is continued in order to support the current view of "community-centered" entrepreneurs, though it hinders rather than aids the understanding of the entrepreneurial function performed during the crucial years of Japan's economic transformation. The second is that the Meiji entrepreneurs are often revealed as unabashed profit-maximizers, regardless of their class origin, when one examines their deeds rather than their public utterances, and the results rather than the reasons given in the autobiographies for their business decisions.