El Papel del Estado y del Sector Privado en el Desarrollo Económico de México y Japón (1945-2018)

Abstract

Research on economic development generally uses quantitative information to evaluate the development of countries’ economic sectors; however, an analysis of economic actors such as the government and the private sector provides information about how their performance can have an enormous influence on achieving the objectives of economic progress established in each country. In the industrialization processes of Mexico and Japan, these actors were present. Both countries historically increased their growth rates by more than 6% and 10% respectively, but they had different results regarding the completion of their industrialization process. Only the Asian country was able to conclude the process, positioning itself as a developed economy and a world leader in technology, while Mexico was only able to produce low-technology manufactures and deepened and developed new structural problems in its economy. The foregoing was reflected in differences in the generation of productive and competitive capacities, which today might represent an advantage or obstacle for them to insert in better positions within the new international trade strategies, such as Global Value Chains. The dissimilarities in these results are not due to the intervention of these actors in economic activity, they are a consequence of deficiencies in their actions, specifically in the Mexican case. With the return of the neoliberal model, both economies have performed differently in this new international scenario. In Mexico, the state presence in the economy has been reduced, accompanied by the actions of a private sector indifferent to the economic and social promotion project, which has led to the deepening of the difficulties inherited from the unfinished industrialization process to which recent problems related to the new neoliberal economic paradigm have been added. This has been reflected in a decline in the GDP growth rate, which has not exceeded 2.20% in the last three decades. As for Japan, the success of its industrialization process has allowed it to position itself in the international commercial market in a privileged way, being a leader in technology and with highly competitive companies, it has managed to obtain greater profits from international trade, as well as taking advantage of the strategy of Global Value Chains. Even so, the commercial opening defended by the neoliberal model has also implied a greater vulnerability in its economy. In addition, as a consequence of the development of its economy, new problems have arisen, such as the increase in longevity in its population and the drop in the birth rate, which is generating pressures to cover pensions and concerns about the available labor force for the following years, as well as the slow growth of salaries together with the increase in taxes that is affecting the quality of life of its population and its economy. However, despite the effects of the international crises and the internal problems of the last decades, the Japanese economy has managed to maintain its position as a developed economy, an important place within the global economy, and maintain healthy levels in most of the indicators of social welfare, even though its average growth rate has been below 1% in the last three decades. The foregoing makes it clear that having a State strength and the establishment of harmonious links with the private sector can allow the generation of strong economic structures that will allow facing with more and better tools that make it possible to face changes in the international economic scenario with more and better tools, so that the analysis of the performance of both actors can be an effective instrument for the generation of recommendations in terms of economic and social development, which is the ultimate goal of this research.

Al igual que en el caso mexicano, en el país nipón, también existió una presencia estatal fuerte en la actividad económica, asimismo, se desarrollaron fuertes vinculaciones con el sector empresarial, sin embargo, las diferencias en las capacidades competitivas de su sector productivo y del nivel de calidad de vida de ambas economías, son abrumadoras. Por consiguiente, surge la pregunta, ¿Por qué si México contó con los mismos actores y políticas económicas similares no obtuvo los mismos resultados? Por lo anterior, esta investigación tiene el objetivo de resolver esta pregunta, mediante el análisis comparativo de las principales políticas de industrialización y las herramientas promovidas por el Estado, para el logro de los objetivos de desarrollo y crecimiento económico, así como del papel del sector privado, como actor dinamizador en las economías mexicana y japonesa, en el periodo 1945-2018. Lo anterior, permitirá identificar las disimilitudes en las actuaciones de estos actores, que fueron clave para los distintos resultados de competitividad en sus sistemas productivos y que han influido en su dinámica actual dentro del escenario económico, nacional e internacional. Asimismo, se presenta el caso de estudio de la industria automotriz y autopartes, que busca demostrar, en este sector, que: la implementación de políticas industriales eficaces tuvo el efecto de colocar a las empresas automotrices japonesas, como empresas matrices dentro de la estrategia de Cadenas Globales de Valor (CGV), participando en las etapas de mayor Valor Agregado (VA), lo que le ha permitido obtener mayores ganancias al país nipón.