Differences in the Vision of State Leaders and Their Role in the Outcome of Industrialization: A Comparison of Meiji Japan and Post-Colonial Africa

Industrialization is important for structural change because it promotes economic growth and development. However, not all economies have been able to achieve industrialization. This paper adds a new interpretation of this difference through a comparison between East and Southeast Asia, in particular Meiji Japan, and the Sub-Saharan African economies. A key to understanding differences in the level of industrialization between these countries is the industrialization vision of state leaders and the Ministry of Industry. These visions tend to be formulated unrealistically in the early stages of industrialization because they are not usually based on the reality of the industrial sector. How smoothly the country would be able to fill in any gaps between the formulated vision and reality is critical and classified as a problem of state learning. Supposedly, the economies that can manage this gap reduction as smoothly as possible in early stages would be able to achieve industrialization in a shorter period of time while the economies that cannot do so would need to spend a longer time to achieve full industrialization. The experience of Meiji Japan can shed light on this learning process for further consideration.