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How do states organize the three largest industrial economies? What are the differences and why do they matter, if at all? Does one country have a decisive 'competitive edge'? This course tries to answer these questions by looking at how variations in the institutions and processes the state uses to regulate the economy affect labor productivity, technological innovation, and thus ultimately international competitiveness. It will look at several industrial sectors in each of the three major industrial economies to answer these questions. It focusses on the differences among these countries' financial systems, bargaining systems between firms and labor, the forms firm and labor organization take, the kinds of access social groups have to state policy-makers, and state supports for technological innovation and productivity growth.
Required Books: (we will read in entirety)
Requirements and credits: All students will make one in- class presentation, approximately 5-7 minutes long, digesting the arguments from that day's reading (15 % of grade). Each student will write two longer (10-12 page) papers. The first will compare and analyse an aspect of state-society relations, industrial policy and labor relations over at least two of our three countries (25%). The second will compare the governance of ONE industrial sector in TWO of the countries studied here (25%). (Countries and sectors are slightly negotiable). The sector based papers may be presented in an abbreviated form in class during the last 6 weeks of the course. Class participation accounts for the remaining 25%. Since you can't participate unless you read, please read.
Your term paper MUST be typed, stapled, spell-checked, and double spaced. I will penalize you if it isn't.
The paper MUST present a comparative analysis.
"Comparative analysis" means that your paper must cover AT LEAST
TWO countries (or sectors). Both countries/sectors should get
the same research attention. In the past, students tended to
compare the country/sector they had presented in class with
another country/sector. Since they felt more comfortable with
"their" country/sector, they gave it more research attention.
The final product was very poor. Avoid this trap! Comparison
allows for better generalizations.
You should begin your paper with a brief introduction. The intro should give both you and me a clear idea of what your paper is about -- what question(s) you are dealing with, what argument(s) you are testing -- and what countries are the subject of your analysis. In order not to be overwhelmed by the amount of available information, narrow down your topic -- concentrate on a single question, issue, or argument. Avoid overlarge topics like: "Why Japan is better/worse than the US." Unless you intend to write a dissertation (and please, don't do that here), such broad topics cannot be intelligently condensed into a 10-12-page paper and they just frustrate writers and readers.
Be analytic. Because I am interested in your thoughts and logic rather than in your ability to summarize a few sources, I give no credit whatsoever to purely narrative accounts. Evidence should be used to ground arguments, but when factual evidence overwhelms the analysis I get bored.
Present your arguments and ideas in an organized and clear manner. The most innovative insights do not get across if they are not coherently presented. Structure your paper around a framework or comparative criteria. Ground your arguments. Do not throw "big" statements or citations without supportive evidence or interpretation. Make sure you distill all of your arguments into a clear concluding section. This effort will benefit both of us in that we will be able to better understand what this paper is all about.
See me before you start writing your paper to ensure that you are on the right track. I will help with sources and strategies. If you'd like I can provide you with 'mid-course' correction if you come see me with a written outline of the paper before you write the final version. Consequently do not wait until the last moment -- start working on the paper(s) as soon as possible.
Although the class is not listed as fulfilling the second writing requirement I will sign off for you if you write > 20 pages.
THE PROBLEM
16 Jan Syllabi, introduction of themes
21 Jan-4 Feb What do we mean by competitiveness and governance? Are national governance structures different? Does technology matter more than politics? How did the modern period differ from the pre-World War II period?
21 Jan The Market vs the Organization
Friedrich Hayek in Chiaki Nishiyama, ed., Essense of Hayek
ch 11 & 14
Paul Krugman, "Competitiveness: A Dangerous Obsession,"
Foreign Affairs March 1994 (also in the
Competitiveness reader)
23 Jan Organizing macro-economies and a world economy
Peter Gourevitch, "Breaking with Orthodoxy" International
Organization winter 1984 (also in Gourevitch, Politics in
Hard Times as ch 4)
Andrew Shonfield, Modern Capitalism ch 1, 4
recommended: Peter Katzenstein, Between Power and
Plenty, ch 2 by Maier
28-30 Jan Linking State and firms via financial
structures
Mark Roe, "Some Differences in Corporate Structure in Germany,
Japan, and the US," Yale Law Journal 102:8, June 1993, pp.
1927-2003
28 Jan Linking State and society via economic
organizations
Schmitter, "Community, Market State - and Associations?" in
Streeck and Schmitter, eds., Private Interest Government
Jeffrey Hart, Rival Capitalists (= Hart), ch 1
6 Feb (Dis-)organized micro-economies and continued
conflict:
Tom Juravich, Chaos on the Shop Floor pp. 23-138
RESOURCES: P. Hall, Governing the Market; C. Johnson, etal, Politics and Productivity, M Piore and C Sabel, Second Industrial Divide; M. Porter, Competitive Advantage of Nations
11 - 13 Feb America how does it work (or not) here? how does government policy affect business & labor? what effects does the structure of financial intermediation have? how is business organized? what are the historical & institutional legacies?
recommended
JR Hollinsworth "The Governance of the American Economy" pp.
221-252 in Streeck and Schmitter, eds., Private Interest
Government
Economist: "Back on Top? Survey of American Business"
16 September 1995
resources:
William Baumol, "Is there a US productivity crisis?"
Science v243, 3 Feb 89 pp. 611-615
Lester Thurow: "A weakness in process technology?"
Science v238, 18 Dec 87, pp. 1659-1663
Rolf Anderson Atlas of the American Economy
18 - 20 Feb Japan how does it work (or not) here?
does government have more or less leverage over business & why?
does labor play a different role? what are the consequences of a
different structure of financial intermediation? is business
organized differently? what are the historical & institutional
legacies?
RESOURCES: Masahiko Aoki, "A new Paradigm of Work organization
and Coordination? Lessons from the Japanese Experience," pp.
267-293 in S Marglin, ed., The Golden Age of Capitalism; J
Barnhart, Japan Prepares for Total War; Shintaro
Ishinomori, Japan, Inc. (a 'comic' book)
25-27 Feb Germany how does it work (or not) here? how
does the structure of financial intermediation affect government-
business relations? why does labor play a different role than in
the US and Japan? what are the historical & institutional
legacies?
RESOURCES: P Katzenstein, Industry and Politics in West Germany; Katzenstein, Politics and Policy in West Germany
4-6 Mar Tools for looking at industry:
Economist, "Between two worlds: a survey of manufacturing
technology" 5 March 1994
H. Kitschelt, "Industrial Governance Structures, Innovation
Strategies and the Case of Japan: Sectoral or Cross National
Analysis?" International Organization 45:4, Autumn
1991, pp. 453-493.
BREAK (11-13 march)
18-20 March - I am out of town - we will have to reschedule or work something out
GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY: INDUSTRIES
25 - 27 Mar Steel
Hart p 46-57, 190-198, 237-248 (FR 100-111, UK 150-157)
Yves Meny and Vincent Wright, The Politics of Steel: Western
Europe and the Crisis Years, ch by Messerlin
M Borrus, "Politics of Competitive Erosion in US Steel," in J.
Zysman & L. Tyson, eds., American Industry in International
Competition
MA Industry Study G
RESOURCES: J Hoerr, The Wolf Came, J Strohmeyer, Crisis in Bethlehem
1 -10 Apr Automobiles
1 Apr Library videos: "A Job at Ford's" "Roger and Me" (I
will be out of town)
3-10 April
RESOURCES: A Smith and A Venables, "Automobiles," pp. 119-158 in G Hufbauer, ed., Europe 1992: an American View; A Altschuler et al: Future of the Automobile, M Cusumano: Japanese Automobile Industry; D. Halberstam, The Reckoning; Wolfgang Streeck "Industrial Relations and Industrial Change: the Restructuring of the World Automobile industry in the 1970s and 1980s," Economic and Industrial Democracy 8, 1987, pp. 437-462; W. Streeck: Industrial Relations in West Germany: the Motor Industry; D. Womack, D. Jones, and J. Roos, Machine that Changed the World.
15-22 Apr Information industry / Semiconductors
15 Apr Whence the industry?
K. Flamm: Targeting the Computer: government support and
international competition, ch 3
M. Anchordoguy: "Mastering the market: Japanese gov't targeting
of the computer industry," International Organization
42:3, Summer 1988, pp. 509-544
17 Apr Policy
Hart p 72-86, 210-222, 264-279 (FR 121-138, UK 164-180)
MA Industry Study F
recommended: Daniel Okimoto, Between MITI and Market
22 April Making micro-policy in a changing environment
G. Fong, "State Strength, Industry Structure, and Industrial
Policy: American and Japanese Experiences in
Microelectronics," Comparative Politics 22:3, April 1990,
pp. 272-299
Economist, "Within the Whirlwind: Survey of Computer
Industry" 27 February 1993
RESOURCES: M Borrus, Competing for Control; G Dosi, Technical Change and Industrial Transformation; G Dosi, R Nelson, C Freeman, et al Technical Change and Economic Theory; T Howell, The Microelectronics Race; OECD, Strategic Industries in a Global Economy (also: OECD Reviews of National S&T Policy); D Okimoto, T Sugano, & B Weinstein: Competitive Edge: Semiconductor Industry in the US & Japan
24 apr Conclusions
Hart ch 7
29 APRIL: LONG PAPERS ARE DUE!
no readings
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Last modified: 12-9-96