BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Understanding Japan’s competitiveness in the global cotton marke
 t in the early 20th century’  - Janet Hunter (Dept of Economic History\,
  London School of Economics)
DTSTART:20210518T160000Z
DTEND:20210518T172500Z
UID:TALK158734@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Gareth Austin
DESCRIPTION:This presentation has as its starting point the changing fortu
 nes of Britain and Japan in the global cotton market during the early deca
 des of the 20th century. From accounting for over 70% of world cotton 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 n
 early 40%. A recurrent explanation within British (and other Western) comm
 entary on these shifting positions was that Japan was engaged in ‘unfair
 ’ competition\, engaging in the exploitation of sweated labour as well a
 s excessive protectionism. By contrast much of the subsequent academic lit
 erature has tended to focus on issues such as entrepreneurial ‘success
 ’ and ‘failure’ and the extent to which industry leaders on both sid
 es were making rational decisions given their situations and the constrain
 ts that they were facing.\n	My objective here is to build on the existing 
 scholarship with a view to moving away from any generalised assumptions ab
 out cheap labour or about entrepreneurial leadership\, and to think about 
 understandings at the time in relation to what we now regard as the substa
 ntive realities of Japan’s competitive advantage. I focus on two main qu
 estions. The first is what evidence do we have that British leaders had a 
 shared understanding of Japan’s cotton industry and the competitive thre
 at that it posed? Secondly\, was labour cheap and\, if so\, how far was lo
 w cost labour just one factor in Japan’s ability to increase its global 
 market share? Following a brief overview of the existing historiography on
  the British cotton industry and its approach to Japan\, I consider some o
 f the most important contemporary British reports and individuals involved
  in the debate. The evidence shows that while\, as suggested by previous s
 cholarship\, it was possible for industry leaders to be well-informed abou
 t what was going on in Japan\, there was far less unanimity about the exte
 nt of any threat posed by Japan\, and how it might be approached.\n	I then
  consider briefly the historiography on the Japanese side\, and the approa
 ch of Japanese industry leaders. I suggest that while the very different s
 tructures of the two industries – something recognised by contemporaries
  - have been well documented\, it was these differences\, many of them lar
 gely shaped by Japan’s position as a late developing economy\, that func
 tioned in particular ways to enhance Japan’s comparative advantage in gl
 obal markets. While wages may have been low\, this was not always the case
  with overall labour cost. More important was not only the need to focus o
 n markets in low income countries\, but also approaches to the organisatio
 n of production\, manufacturing operations and technology and the building
  up of institutions and organisations the allowed competition to coexist w
 ith cooperation and coordination.\n
LOCATION:Faculty of History\, Cambridge: Zoom (to receive link please regi
 ster at https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series/global-economic-history
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR