Comparative economic systems analysis is a research field which started from comparative war potential analysis after the end of the World War II.
In the postwar period, state intervention and mixed economies have prevailed in the capitalist world. In the socialist regimes, market mechanisms were introduced into the central planning, and decentralized types of socialist economies emerged. Comparative economic systems analysis has become consolidated as a discipline which compares the two economic systems, using and integrating theoretical, institutional, and empirical analyses. However, since socialist economies collapsed in the U.S.S.R and Eastern Europe, a new research agenda has been added to this area: theoretical and empirical analysis of transition economies. Also, the advanced capitalist economies have witnessed different trajectories of development, reflecting diversified institutional evolution of corporate governance and employer-employee relationships. Although the socialist regimes have all but collapsed, it remains to be seen in which direction the capitalist regimes, and the economies in transition, will develop.
Given this situation, the research section on comparative economic systems seeks to analyze difference between capitalist and socialist/transition economies, to highlight the diversity of capitalist economies, and to understand economic thoughts which underlie those different economic systems and their development.
This study unit researches the following areas: (1) comparative analysis of different economic systems; (2) institutional analysis of the diversity of economic systems; (3) empirical analysis of the transformations of the former socialist economies and transition economies; and (4) research into the effects of resource restrictions and environmental issues on economic systems.
The central theme of this study unit is the analysis of advanced capitalist economies and market mechanisms. The unit seeks to investigate the meaning and functioning of market economies in relation to the characteristics of alternative economic systems. More specifically, the following topics are examined: (1) methods for combining a market economy with features of planning and state intervention; (2) changes of economic systems possibly caused by market failures, and (3) the different kinds of corporate governance and employer-employee relationship in contemporary market economies.
In this unit, the objective is to clarify the meaning and functioning of planning in economic systems, and to analyze the workings of institutions and management in order to evaluate the achievements and deficiencies of the socialist planned economies. More specifically, the following topics are considered: (1) comparisons of capitalist and socialist economic planning; and (2) analysis of realities of planning in a socialist economy on the basis of recently released information after the collapse of socialist regimes.
Economic thought reflects the practical needs and demands of people in each country and in each age, and plays an important role in the recognition and formation of economic systems. This unit studies economic thought in historical and comparative perspectives, seeking to contribute to the analysis of comparative economic systems. The main topics include: (1) study of economic thought in historical and comparative perspectives; (2) analysis of the relationship between economic thought and policy-making; and (3) study of the role of economic thought and ideology in the evolution of economic system.
IWASAKI, Ichiro
TAKAMI, Norikazu
TSURU, Tsuyoshi
