ABSTRACT
Both the keiretsu and the subcontracting networks that have been outlined in Chapter 1 represent central features of the organization of industry in Japan and as such have been studied extensively. A wealth of detail regarding their history, organization, economic foundations and consequences has been expounded. However, from the perspective of network theory, it proves quite difficult to bring the subject into focus when asking simple questions such as what is the structure of such networks and how is production organized? And more specifically, what is the identity of network members, what is their relation to each other, and how are activities coordinated? Trying to answer such questions, it emerges that none of the studies provides a satisfactory answer. The literature on the keiretsu, for example, typically only provides the crudest outline of the organization of production. Studies on subcontracting arrangements, in contrast, do focus on production arrangements but, importantly, tend to disregard the role played by common (i.e. non-dedicated) suppliers and fail to consider whether subcontractors are or are not corporate affiliates. In other words, even though keiretsu and subcontracting networks clearly overlap, descriptions of the organization of production in terms of either of these provide only a partial account and their relation to each other remains unclear.
