Technological Change, U.S. Pressure, and the Transformation of the Japanese Aircraft Industry

초록

During the early 1990s, the Japanese aircraft industry underwent a fundamental transformation, shifting away from autonomous development and toward international collaboration. What drove Japan to discard autonomous development in its aircraft industry, something Japan had sought for three decades? This article attempts to answer the question by examining how and why the coalition behind autonomous development began to shatter during the mid-1980s. I argue that the confluence of technological change and U.S. pressure brought about the shift toward international collaboration by prodding key players to reorder their policy priorities. The Japanese aircraft industry case suggests that technological change, if combined with U.S. pressure in a timely manner, can prompt even persistent opponents of change—conservative government ministries and other key agencies with vested interests in the existing policy—to seek other alternatives.

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