PETROLEUM POLITICS IN JAPAN: STATE AND INDUSTRY IN A CHANGING POLICY CONTEXT.

摘要

This study explores the postwar evolution of Japanese petroleum policy by focusing on the interactions of state and industry officials in policymaking. The historical evolution of a subgovernment of oil policymaking is identified, and its structural features analyzed. The major part of the study deals with petroleum policymaking during the oil crisis of 1973-74. Different policymaking patterns are noted in three cases which involve foreign oil diplomacy, petroleum product allocations, and price policy. In conclusion, Japan's ongoing response to energy crisis in the 1974-79 period is evaluated, and future energy prospects assessed.;This study finds that variations in patterns of policymaking are linked to different types of policy issues. The concept of "relative shares" is developed to explain why petroleum policymaking has become more complicated during the period of continuing energy crisis and slower economic growth in the 1970's. The research documents the persistence of an elite policymaking system, but one which is less insulated and more sensitive to contradictory pressures from the outside. Changing interactions between state and industry are associated with broader structural changes in Japan's petroleum market structure.