Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
example, Matsushita, Japan's, and indeed the world's, largest electronics
company, remains firmly based in Japan, despite recent moves to open more
overseas factories and functions. A quarter of the group's production is now
overseas, with plans to expand to 30 per cent by the year 2000. It has large
investments in China: up until recently only assembly operations for items such
as air conditioners and television tubes, but now including research laboratories.
Matsushita now has ten such laboratories overseas. However, central control and
most manufacture remains in Japan. Expansion of all activities is predominantly
into China and other Far Eastern countries, which form a growth region with the
Japanese core.
While all these new industrial regions can be identified as real economic
powerhouses with real linkage amongst their parts, it still makes sense to discuss
countries as units for development. Apart from the cultural integument to each
national economy, there are direct economic differences at this national
geographical scale. Labour skills and labour costs, the levels and availability of
technology and resources, are factors that vary more on the between-nation scale
than in any other dimension. But as is shown elsewhere in this topic, the cultural
integument is important too. Economic growth depends on a stable governmental
structure, and in the long term, one that is democratic and does not invite
revolutionary change. It is also dependent on the absence of coercion within the
state or within institutions, and the absence of corruption, which is linked to
overpowerful and illegitimate systems of governance.
There are also changes within the advanced nation states which give them
continuing advantages. As Ohmae (1995) comments, there are specific types of
response from the nation state to the crisis of change. Changing demands within
these countries create opportunities for new employment, especially in the
service sector of the economy, in industries such as tourism, recreation, and the
burgeoning business services, and these kinds of activities take over the central
position held formerly by manufacturing industry. The “hollowing out” of the
industrial economy in the developed countries does not mean that these countries
are left with no function, although old industrial regions may experience major
trauma in achieving the changeover.
