Harukiyo Hasegawa challenges the notion of the Japanese success story with an in-depth case study of comparative growth and decline in the steel industries of two mature economies.

Northeast Asian steel industries have developed global production networks, but by spanning multiple national spaces, these networks unite many national economies while belonging exclusively to none. Who, therefore, is in control? Jeffrey D. Wilson examines how states and firms coordinate their activities to govern global production.

This book provides a broad investigation of various issues in East Asia’s steel industry since the 1980s, including international specialization and trade relations, the sustainable use of resources, technological innovations, and environmental mitigation, alongside a consideration of the rapid growth in Chinese steel industry. Using macro and firm-level data, and case studies based on field research to discuss issues concerning the steel industry in East Asia. In search of an easy understanding, we try to simplify complicated economic models and statistical analyses, and concentrate on policy implications based as much as possible on the results of empirical analyses. We believe that this book will be of interest to policymakers, economists, practitioners and advocates of sustainability.

'...a tightly argued and excellent book.' - William D. Wray, Journal of Japanese Studies How did Japan, despite her lack of natural resources, become the world's leading iron and steel producing country? This book examines how the collaboration between government and industry created this economic miracle.

Steel companies were at the birth of the modern business corporation. The first billion dollar corporation ever formed was U.S. Steel in 1901. By the mid-twentieth century the steel mill and the automobile plant were the two pillars upon which the twentieth century industrial economy rested. Given the scale of capital and operations, vertical integration was seen to be pivotal, from the raw materials of iron ore and coal on one end of the supply chain to the myriad of finished products on the other. By the end of the twentieth century, however, things had dramatically changed. Take a look inside for a brilliant and concise history of the steel industry. The author presents a comprehensive account of the economics of the industry, with an overview of how the industry operates and the environment in which it operates. This book includes a detailed discussion of the regulation of the industry; a documentation of the reasons why a rejuvenated steel industry will be critical to the economic health of the modern economy; and a rationale for the reemergence of the steel industry in particular, and manufacturing in general, as a vital force in the North American economy of the new millennium. It is widely perceived that the United States is moving from an industrial age into an information age, driven by high technology. That image for steel is now being reversed. The steel industry has continuously been forced to remake itself, and this book describes those developments and dynamics. Information technology is pervasive across the industry and ecological improvement is steel intensive.