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CATEGORIES:Global Economic History Seminar
SUMMARY:Understanding Japan’s competitiveness in the globa
 l cotton market in the early 20th century’  - Jane
 t Hunter (Dept of Economic History\, London School
  of Economics)
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20210518T170000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20210518T182500
UID:TALK158734AThttp://talks.cam.ac.uk
URL:http://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/158734
DESCRIPTION:This presentation has as its starting point the ch
 anging fortunes of Britain and Japan in the global
  cotton market during the early decades of the 20t
 h century. From accounting for over 70% of world c
 otton and cotton piece goods exports in 1909/13\, 
 Britain’s share had fallen to 27% by 1936/8. Over 
 the same period Japan’s share grew from just 1.4% 
 to nearly 40%. A recurrent explanation within Brit
 ish (and other Western) commentary on these shifti
 ng positions was that Japan was engaged in ‘unfair
 ’ competition\, engaging in the exploitation of sw
 eated labour as well as excessive protectionism. B
 y contrast much of the subsequent academic literat
 ure has tended to focus on issues such as entrepre
 neurial ‘success’ and ‘failure’ and the extent to 
 which industry leaders on both sides were making r
 ational decisions given their situations and the c
 onstraints that they were facing.\n	My objective h
 ere is to build on the existing scholarship with a
  view to moving away from any generalised assumpti
 ons about cheap labour or about entrepreneurial le
 adership\, and to think about understandings at th
 e time in relation to what we now regard as the su
 bstantive realities of Japan’s competitive advanta
 ge. I focus on two main questions. The first is wh
 at evidence do we have that British leaders had a 
 shared understanding of Japan’s cotton industry an
 d the competitive threat that it posed? Secondly\,
  was labour cheap and\, if so\, how far was low co
 st labour just one factor in Japan’s ability to in
 crease its global market share? Following a brief 
 overview of the existing historiography on the Bri
 tish cotton industry and its approach to Japan\, I
  consider some of the most important contemporary 
 British reports and individuals involved in the de
 bate. The evidence shows that while\, as suggested
  by previous scholarship\, it was possible for ind
 ustry leaders to be well-informed about what was g
 oing on in Japan\, there was far less unanimity ab
 out the extent of any threat posed by Japan\, and 
 how it might be approached.\n	I then consider brie
 fly the historiography on the Japanese side\, and 
 the approach of Japanese industry leaders. I sugge
 st that while the very different structures of the
  two industries – something recognised by contempo
 raries - have been well documented\, it was these 
 differences\, many of them largely shaped by Japan
 ’s position as a late developing economy\, that fu
 nctioned in particular ways to enhance Japan’s com
 parative advantage in global markets. While wages 
 may have been low\, this was not always the case w
 ith overall labour cost. More important was not on
 ly the need to focus on markets in low income coun
 tries\, but also approaches to the organisation of
  production\, manufacturing operations and technol
 ogy and the building up of institutions and organi
 sations the allowed competition to coexist with co
 operation and coordination.\n
LOCATION:Faculty of History\, Cambridge: Zoom (to receive l
 ink please register at https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/
 event-series/global-economic-history
CONTACT:Gareth Austin
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