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Japan PUBLIC CORPORATIONS
Although the Japanese economy is largely based on
private
enterprise, it does have a number of government-owned
(public)
corporations, which are more extensive and, in some cases,
different in function from what exists in the United
States. In
1988 there were ninety-seven public corporations, reduced
from 111
in the early 1980s as a result of administrative reforms.
Public
companies at the national level were normally affiliated
with one
of the economic ministries, although the extent of direct
management and supervision varied. The government divided
the
national-level corporations into several categories. The
first
included the main public service and monopoly
corporations: Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Japanese National
Railways,
and Japan Tobacco and Salt Corporation. However, Nippon
Telegraph
and Telephone Corporation was privatized in 1985, and the
Japanese
National Railways in 1987, and Japan Tobacco and Salt
Corporation
in 1988. The second category included the major
development
corporations devoted to housing, agriculture, highways,
water
resources, ports, energy resources, and urban development
projects.
Other categories of corporations included those charged
with
special government projects, loans and finance, and
special types
of banking. Local public corporations were involved with
utilities.
Public corporations benefited the economy in several
ways.
Some, like Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
before
privatization, were important sources of technology
development
funds or centers around which private industry could
cluster.
Others provided vital public services that private
industry would
find impossible to finance. The development banks,
particularly the
Japan Development Bank, were sources of long-term
investment funds
and instrumental in shaping the pattern of industry,
especially in
the early postwar period. Because public corporations also
added
revenue to the national budget and were, theoretically,
selffinancing , they required little from the government in the
way of
financial support. They also provided employment for
retired
bureaucrats. The reemployment of retired bureaucrats as
advisers to
these corporations as well as to many private-sector firms
was
rather common, especially in the late 1960s and early
1970s, under
the title amakudari (descent from heaven). The
practice was
most prevalent in the highly regulated banking, steel, and
transportation industries but was also found throughout
the
Japanese economy.
Public corporations also have a negative side. Their
operations
are apt to be less efficient than those of the private
sector, and
in some corporations, close government supervision impedes
corporate responsibility. Conflicts between corporate
heads, who
are retired from competing ministries, and envy among
career
employees, who see their advancement blocked by the influx
of
retired officials, also creates frequent management
problems. Labor
relations are also less harmonious in the public sector
than in the
private sector. Some of Japan's most debilitating strikes
and work
slowdowns have been launched by public transportation
workers.
Data as of January 1994
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