Foreign Direct Investment in Japan

Ralph Paprzycki is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan. He has also taught at Sophia University in Tokyo. Dr Paprzycki's book Interfirm Networks in the Japanese Electronics Industry was published in 2005. He obtained his doctorate in economics from the London School of Oriental and Asian Studies. Kyoji Fukao is Professor and Director of the Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan. A former Councillor of Hitotsubashi University, he has also served as a Faculty Fellow of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan since 2001 and Chief Research Fellow in the Asian Study Division of the Japan Center of Economic Research since 2004. Professor Fukao coauthored Foreign Direct Investment and the Japanese Economy with Tomofumi Amano in 2004 and has published articles in journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Political Economy, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, and the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies.

• 1. Introduction; 2. The extent and history of foreign direct investment in Japan; 3. The surge in inward FDI; 4. Japan's economic growth and foreign direct investment; 5. The performance of foreign firms and the macroeconomic impact of FDI; 6. The impact of foreign direct investment in Japan: case studies of the automobile, finance, and health care industries; 7. The prospects for foreign direct investment in Japan; 8. Conclusion.

Review of the hardback: 'This book makes a substantial contribution to the literature on foreign investment in Japan and foreign investment in the era of globalization. It analyzes the recent surge of FDI into Japan, its concentration in particular sectors like automobiles, finance and insurance, and its impact on the efficiency with which the Japanese economy operates. This last step is of broad policy interest because it underlines the role that openness to new entrants, including and importantly foreign investors in advanced economies, plays in enhancing productivity performance and competitiveness and establishes that role convincingly in the case of Japan.' Peter Drysdale, The Australian National University