The Contest for Japan's Economic Future

Just as a wave of entrepreneurship created Japan's postwar "economic miracle," so it will take a new generation of entrepreneurs to revive its stagnant economy. A complex distribution system dominated by the incumbents has made it hard for newcomers even to get their products on store shelves. Fortunately, major social changes are now opening new opportunities. Generational changes in attitudes about work and gender relations are leading moreand more talented people to the new companies. This includes ambitious women who are regularly denied promotions at traditional companies. The rise of e-commerce is enabling tens of thousands ofnewcomers to bypass the traditional distribution system and sell their products to millions of customers. Three decades of low growth have convinced many within both the elites and the public of the need for change. Still, progress remains an uphill climb because of resistance by powerful forces. Bank financing remains quite difficult. For example, the system of "lifetime employment" has made it very hard to newcomers to recruit the staff they need. Banks, who are oftenin the same sprawling conglomerates as the corporate giants, are still loath to lend to new companies. While parts of the government try to promote more startups, other parts resist making the neededchanges in regulations, taxes, and budgets.Japan's economic future will be determined by the contest detailed in this book.

Richard Katz, who knows Japan's economy and society inside and out, offers a book full of careful analysis and bold recommendations. It is a precious wake up call to a Japan that sometimes acts like a frog that stays in boiling water. Heizo Takenaka, Former Japanese Minister for Financial Services and former Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy
For years, Japan has sorely needed to unleash the sort of creative energy that made it an economic superstar in the postwar decades. This highly original book provides evidence that digital technology, new generational attitudes, improving gender equality, and international inspirations are converging with demographic pressures and emerging government support in ways that create the possibility of a new burst of entrepreneurial vigor. Bill Emmott, Former Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
Richard Katz looks beyond Japan's institutional rigidities, complacency, and aversion to risk to explore important new 'megatrends' that hold the possibility of a rebirth of the entrepreneurial spirit that fueled postwar Japan's economic miracle. Hopeful, insightful, and written with verve, The Contest for Japan's Economic Future deserves to be read by anyone concerned about Japan's future trajectory. Gerald Curtis, Columbia University
Richard Katz provides a fresh, up-to-date analysis of an important topic that has bewitched two generations of scholars. While many have proposed that the solution to Japan's economic problems lies in reforming the big incumbents, Katz argues that generating a host of new companies is at least as indispensable. Zoltan Acs, George Mason University
This important new book challenges the conventional thinking that Japan is doomed to suffer from a paucity of entrepreneurship. Rather, its penetrating analysis of significant contemporary developments provides a compelling case for an entrepreneurial renaissance in Japan. David Audretsch, Author of Creating Competitiveness: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policies for Growth
Katz's deep research-much of it informed by interviews with young entrepreneurs-is brimming with ideas to resurrect the reform process. William Pesek, Forbes Asia
This new book by economist Richard Katz presents a comprehensive theory for why the Japanese economy has been in the doldrums for decades, and what Japan can do to revitalize itself. Japan Intercultural Consulting
How Kishida's disappearing Japanese premiership is a gift ... Richard Katz writes in his new book The Contest for Japan's Economic Future William Pesek, South China Morning Post
Richard Katz, author of the recently published The Contest for Japan's Economic Future, argues that the fact Japanese stock prices are once again flying high "does not mean that Japan is back". Productivity in Japan has fallen behind that in other advanced economies and there is a need for a "better balance in the country's corporate structure between giants and entrepreneurs with fresh ideas", Katz said at a recent talk at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Japan has the lowest share of entrepreneurs among some 25 leading countries, said Katz, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. More damningly, perhaps, he added that corporate Japan is "stuck in the analogue era", rather than graduating to the digital maturity others have achieved. Anthony Rowley, Macroscope
Richard Katz... provides an indispensable reality check about the state of Japan's economy in The Contest for Japan's Economic Future, challenging some of the hype that has surrounded the latest boom in Japanâs stock markets... Institutional change in an advanced industrial democracy is extraordinarily hard, and it is unlikely to follow a linear path. But Katz has done a service in showing how Japan has already begun to change, what its political and business leaders could do to promote additional reforms, and what Japan has to gain from embracing a new model of capitalism. Tobias Harris, Observing Japan
Katz, former adjunct professor at the NYU business school, is my longtime guide through the thicket of Japanese economics. His first book, Japan: The System that Soured (1998), is one of the best explanations of why the country's economy went off the rails. This newest work builds on that analysis and offers compelling suggestions on how to fix it. Brad Glosserman, Japan Times
The Contest for Japan's Economic Future offers a well-researched, comprehensive examination of Japan's economic challenges and potential solutions. Katz's work provides a balanced view, acknowledging both the obstacles and opportunities facing Japan's economy, and presents a compelling case for fostering entrepreneurship as a key to revitalizing the country's economic fortunes. Sungsoo An, LinkedIn
This work is highly recommended for students of international business and political science, especially those interested in how government policy influences economic revitalization….Highly recommended. Choice

Richard Katz is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics In International Affairs, as well as a Special Correspondent for Weekly Toyo Keizai. The Contest For Japan's Economic Future is his third book and, like his first two, will also be published in Japanese. His two previous books were Japan: The System That Soured--The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Economic Miracle (1998) and Japanese Phoenix: The Long Road to EconomicRevival (2003).For two decades, he published a monthly newsletter on Japan called "The Oriental Economist Report." Now he publishes a free blog called "Japan Economy Watch." His essays and opeds have been published in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and The International Economy. He's testified several times to Congressional committees.He also taught about Japan's economy as an adjunct lecturer at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and at New York University. He received his M.A. in Economics from New York University in 1996

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