Ethnocentrism in U.S./Japanese Trade Policy Negotiations

Cultures have different conceptions of the appropriate role for economic activity and different definitions of social welfare. Since Americans perceive their particular set of cultural values as natural, they conclude that everyone living within a market-oriented economy shares this same set of valu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic issues 1991-06, Vol.25 (2), p.569-580
Main Author: Lanciaux, Bernadette
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comparative advantage
Conspicuous consumption
Consumer economics
Economic competition
Economic Policy
Economic systems
Economic theory
Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism, Racism, and Gender Bias in Economic Affairs
Free trade
Impacts
Institutional economics
Japan
Japanese culture
Market economies
Markets
Negotiation
Neoclassical economics
Perceptions
Trade
Trade negotiation
Trade policy
United States of America
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Summary:Cultures have different conceptions of the appropriate role for economic activity and different definitions of social welfare. Since Americans perceive their particular set of cultural values as natural, they conclude that everyone living within a market-oriented economy shares this same set of values. Since Americans take for granted that the Japanese share the same socially constructed understanding of market economy, the potential for American misunderstanding of Japan is great. US ethnocentrism has been a source of friction over trade issues and has limited the US' ability to communicate its expectations of trade negotiations effectively to the Japanese. In Japan, social welfare is identified with the pursuit of the national interest rather than of individual self-interest. As a result, the Japanese do not hold as sacred the same conceptions of what is central to the economy. This has caused American demands to appear trivial to the Japanese, leading to the failure of trade negotiations.
ISSN:0021-3624
1946-326X
DOI:10.1080/00213624.1991.11505189