Premium
A tale of two SICs: Japanese and American industrialisation in historical perspective
Author(s) -
Tang John P.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/aehr.12097
Subject(s) - industrialisation , convergence (economics) , perspective (graphical) , meiji period , economics , economy , economic geography , development economics , history , economic growth , market economy , ancient history , computer science , artificial intelligence
Late‐developing countries often adopt best practice technologies pioneered abroad, facilitating convergence toward leading economies. Meiji Japan (1868–1912) is one successful example of industrial convergence, but much of the evidence relies on national aggregates or selected industries. Using historical industry data, this paper examines whether Japan adopted new technologies faster compared to the United States. Contrary to conventional wisdom, new sectors did not appear relatively sooner in Japan, however, they did grow to economic significance faster.