Second Thoughts about Deregulation in Japan

Sponsored by:

The Asia Foundation

Time:

December 6, 2000

Place:

The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan Map

For the past quarter century, Japan's trading partners have pointed to excessive government regulation as a major reason why many of Japan's markets remained closed. But starting with Japan's financial Big Bang, the regulatory powers of Japanese officials are being checked. All the same, will deregulation improve access to Japanese markets for foreign firms?

Not necessarily, argues UC San Diego economist Ulrike Schaede. In her new book "Co-operative Capitalism" Schaede writes, "As Japan's postwar industrial policy regime crumbles and the regulating ministries become less potent, many industries rely more than ever on the practice of self-regulation.... As a result of self-regulation, many markets will remain as restricted as they are today...."

According to Schaede, the removal of government influence on markets may actually make entry into Japan more rather than less difficult for certain foreign businesses.

Please join us for Schaede`s talk about the research and field work which led to her conclusions. Robert Feldman, chief economist of Morgan Stanley Dean Wittier Japan and Keikichi Honda, chairman of Sun Microsystems KK and co-author of "Stakeholding: The Japanese Bottom Line" will respond to Schaede's arguments.