| This dissertation analyzes the structural changes in the Japanese economy in the decade 1975-1985, a period of transition from a capital-energy intensive economy to a knowledge intensive economy. This study builds on and extends the structural decomposition analysis in an input-output (I-O) framework, pioneered by Chenery, in two ways: first, by explicitly identifying the direct and indirect effects of the changes in the macroeconomic structure of an economy; second, by adding the spatial dimension and extending the model into an interregional I-O framework.;The extended models have been applied to the interregional I-O data of the Japanese economy, making this study the first empirical work, to my knowledge, of interregional I-O structural decomposition analysis. Analysis at the national level suggests that exports were the leading factor stimulating the growth of the Japanese economy in the time period between 1975 and 1985. In this period, Japan's trade structure shifted somewhat radically from a pattern reflecting the so called "processing trade", which comprises raw material imports and exports of mass-production industrial goods, to a type characterized by exports of sophisticated, high value added manufacturing and service products. Technological change during the same period improved the efficiency of material input use in the Japanese economy, and favored the increase in the share of the machinery sector in Japan's total output, particularly the knowledge intensive electrical machinery sub-sector.;This structural transition in the Japanese economy was accompanied by increasing inequalities in the spatial structure. Kanto, the region centered on Tokyo, increased further its dominance in the Japanese economy during the period, especially in the fast growing sectors, such as the electrical machinery sector. The analysis of the competitiveness of the 9 regions of Japan based on the price version of the interregional input-output model shows that Kanto's competitiveness increased most among the regions from 1975 to 1985, and its dominance in Japan's national economy would further increase in the near future in the absence of an effective government regional policy. |
