‘Deficient in Commercial Morality’?: Japan in Global Debates on Business Ethics in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (Palgrave Studies in Economic History)

This enlightening text analyses the
origins of Western complaints, prevalent in the late nineteenth century, that
Japan was characterised at the time by exceptionally low standards of
‘commercial morality’, despite a major political and economic transformation. As
Britain industrialised during the nineteenth century the issue of ‘commercial
morality’ was increasingly debated. Concerns about standards of business ethics
extended to other industrialising economies, such as the United States. Hunter
examines the Japanese response to the charges levelled against Japan in this
context, arguing that this was shaped by a pragmatic recognition that Japan had
little choice but to adapt itself to Western expectations if it was to
establish its position in the global economy. The controversy and criticisms,
which were at least in part stimulated by fear of Japanese competition, are
important in the history of thinking on business ethics, and are of relevance
for today’s industrialising economies as they attempt to establish themselves
in international markets.