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1、Question One: Compare the post-war Keiretsu inter-firm structure in Japan with the pre-war Zaibatsus. Explain the reasons why the Keiretsu were important to Japans economy in the 1950-1990 period, and why they are now considered to be a major cause of its current structural problems.IntroductionThis
2、 paper reviews major theoretical and empirical work on comparing the Keiretsu and Zaibatsus as well as the importance of Keiretsus in the process of Japan development during the 1950s to early 1990s. Firstly, I compare the pre-war Zaibatsus with the post-war Keiretsu in concepts, history, structures
3、 and governance perspectives. This article will reviews major theoretical and empirical work on vertical and horizontal Japanese keiretsu. I then discuss changes in the Japanese economy during the post-war period from 1950s till 1992 Japanese economic decline and their implications for the persisten
4、ce and continued benefits of each form of inter-corporate grouping followed by a discussion of facts regarding the role of keiretsu in the Japanese economy. Thirdly, this article will analyse the structural problems of Keiretsus on the globalisation context.Backgrounds of Zaibatsus and Keiretsus in
5、JapanJapanese Zaibatsus developed mostly from the Meiji era (1868-1912). By the turn of the century, Japan had given birth to several groups of widely diversified companies, each of them owned and operated by a single family. With the wealth expansion of these families, they became the nations new a
6、ristocracy, the “financial cliques” or the Zaibatsus. The Zaibatsu is generally understood to be a diverse group of large industries controlled by a single family, usually through a central holding company. According to Miyashita and Russell (1994), a Zaibatsu is “nothing more than a large industria
7、l combine” on its initial strcuture. The actual growth of the Zaibatsus began in 1914, World War, Japan supplied munitions and other goods to the Allies. Without the competition from European companies, Japanese firms were free to expand internationally. During that five years, the export of Japan i
8、ncreased 266%. The Big Four-Zaibatsus are Mitsui, Sumitomo, Mitsubishi and Yasuda used their profits to start their own bank. The Americans initially wanted to dissolve all the zaibatsu after World War, as they saw them as undemocratic and the finance behind the militaristic government of the 1930s
9、(see http:/www.wa-). Even though Japans economy made huge strides in economic reformation after the WW, the Zaibatsu interests began to enter the political arena to support their interests. Their activities became entwined with the government in wartime Japan. Eventually, the Potsdam Declaration tha
10、t was signed in 1945 required the liquidation of the Zaibatsu to democratize Japans postwar economy. As explained in the previous article, by 1945 the zaibatsu had grown to control a significant portion of Japanese trade and industry. In addition, for the purpose of controlling economic power, speci
11、al provisions were included in Japans Antimonopoly Act for the specific purpose of forbidding holding companies and limiting the acquisition by financial enterprises of stock of other companies. In hindsight these provisions might appear to have been ineffective barriers to the creation of excessive
12、 economic control and equally ineffective as measures to ensure competition in Japans economy. These arguments were made when Japan enacted the Act for partial Amendment of the Antimonopoly Act in 1997 by which act Japan finally eliminated the 50year old ban on holding companies.Compare pre-war Zaib
13、atsus with the post-war KeiretsusThe zaibatsu is a diversified group of businesses owned by a family. Mostly had origins in non-manufacturing sectors in mining, shipping and most importantly, banking. Then diversified not by integration but by shareholdings and representatives on Boards of Directors
14、 of separate firms. The Keiretsus are conglomerates similar to pre-war Zaibatsus but not family owned and with a bank at its heart and with one of the following forms (Miwa, 2003):1. General trading company able to handle gigantic and diverse volume of commerce2. Production oriented group3. Distribu
15、tion oriented group based on network of small retailers4. Large retail or RR companiesWithin years of dismantling the Zaibatsu, changes on both the domestic and international fronts are thought to have led to a relaxation of regulations upon the concentration of economic power in Japan. On the latte
16、r front, following the establishment of communist China, U.S. foreign policy toward Japan could be seen shifting to one supporting a shoring up of Japans economic power. Secondly, industrial growth and increased production capacity in Japan supported the U.S. need for supplies during the Korean War. Under this circumstance, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) helped Zaibatsus to reform with personnel and new organizational str
