Institutional Analysis of Japanese Economy Ⅰ

Manorial system, the land ownership and administrative system in medieval times, was a complicated mechanism, but with a good reason; to mitigate incentive problems that had become salient in the ancient times. Then, in early modern times, exclusive property right of land, the form we know, came to peasants, again as an incentive device. How was the manorial system formed, and how did it mitigate incentive problems then? How was property right of peasants was formed and protected in early modern times? Finally, how was Japan industrialized after the Meiji Restoration? In the real world, the first best resource allocation, which is presumed to be realized under perfect competition, cannot be achieved anyway. Given the structure of informational asymmetry and other technological conditions, a better second best has been sought and has evolved over times. Aim of the course is to understand economic development of Japan from the medieval times, through the Tokugawa period and the Meiji Restoration, especially from the viewpoint of institutional and organizational economics.