For Western economists and journalists, the most distinctive facet of the post-war Japanese business world has been the keiretsu, or the insular business alliances among powerful corporations. Within keiretsu groups, argue these observers, firms preferentially trade, lend money, take and receive technical and financial assistance, and cement their ties through cross-shareholding agreements. In The Fable of the Keiretsu, Yoshiro Miwa and J. Mark Ramseyer demonstrate that all this talk is really just urban legend. In their insightful analysis, the authors show that the very idea of the keiretsu was created and propagated by Marxist scholars in post-war Japan. Western scholars merely repatriated the legend to show the culturally contingent nature of modern economic analysis. Laying waste to the notion of keiretsu, the authors debunk several related “facts” as well: that Japanese firms maintain special arrangements with a “main bank,” that firms are systematically poorly managed, and that the Japanese government guided post-war growth. In demolishing these long-held assumptions, they offer one of the few reliable chronicles of the realities of Japanese business.

Consists of an abstract and the introduction from a larger work.

This article describes how in the “Fable of the Keiretsu”, Miwa and Ramseyer (M&R) skilfully demonstrate that Ivy League academics, Nobel Prize Laureates, a Pulitzer Prize winner and almost every Japanologist has inaccurately described Japan's postwar economy. M&R achieve this by applying fresh empirical research in a precise and logical manner which demonstrates that many of the hallmarks of Japan's postwar economy - keiretsu, main banks and government led growth - are exaggerated. Unfortunately, however, demonstrating that the conventional wisdom about the Japanese economy is exaggerated was not enough to satisfy M&R's ambitious research agenda. M&R's attempt to extend their conclusions beyond 'disproving exaggerations' and towards proving 'academic fables' is what transforms their otherwise groundbreaking book into an illogical diatribe that fails to achieve its goal. This article explains the logical gaps in M&R's book, which result from its overly ambitious (and still unproven) conclusion that all of the hallmarks of Japan's postwar economy are 'academic fables'. It identifies the flaws in M&R's Marxist conspiracy theory, the unanswered questions created by the bold assertion that the government plays absolutely no role in Japan's economy and a number of pieces of critical evidence that are missing from the book. Then, the article cautions readers of one of M& R's 'un-kept promises' and uses a short case study to demonstrate the weakness of M&R's central theory that perfect free-markets exist in Japan. The article concludes by agreeing with M&R that people interested in the Japanese economy should 'buy, borrow or steal' the book - but only if they also 'buy, borrow or steal' a pillar (not a grain) of salt to accompany the read.

In this clear and very readable introduction to Japanese law, J. Mark Ramseyer and Minoru Nakazato employ an economic approach to challenge commonly held ideas about the Japanese legal system. While many studies assume that Japanese law differs fundamentally from the law in the United States, this work shows the essential similarity between the two. Arguing against the idea that law plays only a trivial role in Japan or is culturally determined, the authors demonstrate that standard economic models go far to explain why Japanese law has the shape it does.

This is the most complete and compelling account of idols and celebrity in Japanese media culture to date. Engaging with the study of media, gender and celebrity, and sensitive to history and the contemporary scene, these interdisciplinary essays cover male and female idols, production and consumption, industrial structures and fan movements.

The era of globalisation brought waves of consolidation in business ownership alongside Leviathon-like state actors. Digital disruption too can leave market power in a relatively small number of hands. In organisational and economic terms, global oligopoly is now a fundamental idea for business and society, which this book explores and analyses. This book focuses on global oligopolies, starting with an analysis of global concentration and profits in all sectors, before moving on to illuminate the geographical spread and global strategic orientation choices and performance outcomes of global oligopoly. Contemporary cooperation modes, such as cross-border M&As and strategic alliances, niche and Emerging Market champion strategies are also analysed in detail to move the reader towards understanding likely future directions for the field. Presenting empirical data on strategies and performance outcomes, the book covers a range of industries to provide practical, research-based guidance for more effective global business strategies and policy perspectives.