DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES IN THE STEEL INDUSTRIES OF JAPAN AND KOREA
This research compares the steel industries in Japan and the Republic of Korea (South). The goal of this research is the identification of differences and similarities between the industries in the two countries.
The Role Industrial Policy in Developing the Character of the Steel Industries in Japan and Korea
Industrial policy has played a major role in the development of the steel industry in both Japan and Korea (O'Brien, 1992, pp. 128-159). An industrial policy attempts to provide an economic environment which either (1) supports industrial development generally, or (2) promotes the development of specific industries or sectors of an economy. Such a policy might include (1) tax incentives to support either investment or exports, (2) subsidies --direct or indirect--to industrial firms or industries, (3) protection against foreign competition, (4) worker training programs, (5) funding--full or participating--for research and development, (6) grants and loans to support (a) regional development, (b) the development of specific industries, or (c) small business, (7) export financing, (8) loans and loan underwriting to support (a) exports, (b) specific sectors of a domestic economy, or (c) specific firms, (9) price supports, and (10) anti-trust, and (11) related policies.
After the end of the Second World War, governmental policy makers in Japan determined that the basis industries that were essential to Japanese economic success were iron and steel, shipbuilding, merchant marine, machine building, heavy electrical equipment, and chemicals (Metraux and Warner, 1992, p. 207). To this end, the Japanese government implemented policies designed to promote the development of these industries, of which the steel industry was one, and to assure the profitability of these industries.
American economic doctrine decries the crea...