Japan's commercial empire /

This fascinating, wide-ranging book probably shows as detailed a knowledge of Japanese foreign investment as any book in English; but despite Woronoff's claims, his book is not so balanced as those of noted academic writers. The author's economic analysis is weak compared to Lawrence G. Franko's (The Threat of Japanese Multinationals, CH, Jul '84), which shows Woronoff wrong in thinking that Japan's MNC's (multinational corporations) do not maximize long-run profits. Rosalie L. Tung (Key to Japan's Economic Strength: Human Power, CH, Oct '84) has a more accurate picture of Japanese MNC managerial success in the US. Kiyoshi Kojima (Japanese Direct Foreign Investment, 1979) is much clearer in analyzing differences between US and Japanese MNCs in the transfer of technology to less developed countries (LDCs). Miyohei Shinohara (Industrial Growth, Trade, and Dynamic Patterns in the Japanese Economy, CH, Jul '83) discusses the ``boomerang'' effect of Japanese MNC investment competing with domestic Japanese output far better than Woronoff. Compared to Saburo Okita (The Developing Economies and Japan, CH, Jul '81) Woronoff has little understanding of LDCs hosting Japanese investors. Index and short bibliography. Accessible to general readers.-E.W. Nafziger, Kansas State University