> > I don't think S. Korea, Taiwan, or Japan made it as far as they did > > based on > > import substitution, which at least in Latin America meant a > > nation-centric > > effort at development. It's more accurate to say that they used > > protection > > in order to build up the basis for fighting and (at least temporarily) > > > > winning the battle of exporting. (Nation-centric development involves, > > for > > example, high domestic wages to provide a home market. This is much > > less > > important to the East Asian "model.")
When I first got to Japan in 1989 I wanted to see just how protectionist and closed the markets actually were. The thing that struck me the most wasn't protection or closed markets, but, rather, the extreme competition. At the time Japan still had 12 automobile manufacturers. I think one reason why US companies couldn't find the key to 'crack' the Japanese market was they just found it too expensive to wade in and figure out how to compete. Some did, though: Proctor & Gamble (do Americans buy Kao or Lion detergent?), Coca-Cola (does Suntory market softdrinks in the US?), Warner-Lambert, Lever, etc. For all the complaints that Kodak made about Fuji, if you have ever been to Japan you can see that their number one competitor is Konica and German film marketed generically, while Kodak has been a marketing joke. I could go on and on. I think most Americans never knew just how competitive and difficult it was to sell something in Japan. Japanese, exporters that they are, were well aware however just how difficult it was to get shelf space in US stores. Coca Cola became successful by building up its own distribution network,and they are as much responsible for the pervasive use of vending machines. The damned things are everywhere! As is the litter of cans and pet bottles carelessly tossed. However, in terms of products, Coca Cola is usually not the innovator. For example, UCC marketed canned coffee back in the 60s and it became a hit. Japanese drink far more of it than they do cola. However, Coca Cola now dominates sales of canned coffee. Japan, by the way, is a poster child of the WB development model circa 1950-1970. Charles Jannuzi
