Comparative Analysis of Regional Governance

 

This presentation illuminates regional variations of industrialization through comparative analysis of governance for resource management on porcelain industry in Japan. The presenter analyzed how specific arrangements were formulated that designated the ways of managing resources for porcelain production and distribution. With comparative analysis of arrangements of porcelain manufacturing in three regions, the presentation shows how the relationships of political authorities and those who were engaged in the industry shaped the distinctive ways of governing resources in each of these regions. Analysis illustrates regional variations of managing resources for porcelains conditioned by different ways and degrees of involvement by regional political authorities and those who were engaged in porcelain production and distribution. The pre-existing practices and relations shaped the ways of organizing resources for industrialization in each of the regions even after the regime change in the late 19^th century. In the region where the regional authority had claimed a strong command over resources for porcelain production and distribution, producers and merchants relied on guidance and support from the political authority to receive funding and other support for a further development. In the region where the political authorities did not interfere the way of using resources, producers and merchants organized resources to enlarge their activities on their own without little public support. The ways and degrees of involvement by the regional political authorities and their relations with those who were engaged in production and distribution shaped the distinctive styles of managing resources for porcelain production in each region. Comparative regional analysis illuminates different ways of governing resources for porcelain production within Japan at the end of the 19^th century. The presentation will invite a further discussion of social changes by bringing other experiences in the world.