Geopolitics, Information, and Logistics
A Narrative on Trading Companies in Imperial Japan
##article.authors##
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Masaki Nakabayashi
Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1096-1350
https://researchmap.jp/masaki.nakabayashi?lang=en
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Hisayuki Oshima
Faculty of Business Administration, Takachiho University
https://researchmap.jp/read0195636
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51094/jxiv.355Keywords:
trading company, oil shale retort, first globalization, Information exchangesAbstract
One profit source for trading companies is matching demands with supplies in highly differentiated markets. It is theoretically known that in-person networks based on imperial legacies, immigrants, and general trading companies that share a common language and culture help trades of differentiated goods expand. However, little is known about how such networks help make deals for differentiated goods. To investigate the role of general trading companies, we study how major trading companies navigated a sensitive transaction in imperial Japan in the first age of globalization: the procurement of shale oil retort facilities in Manchuria. Our archival research with confidential documents reveals that trading companies logistically supported the Japanese buyer's engineers in meeting Western suppliers' engineers in person and visiting plants in the West to acquire tacit knowledge beyond written specifications. We interpret such logistical support as a substitute for imperial or immigrant networks.
Conflicts of Interest Disclosure
The authors, Masaki Nakabayashi and Hisayuki Oshima, do not have any conflict of interests regarding to this study.Downloads *Displays the aggregated results up to the previous day.
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Submitted: 2023-04-07 02:21:03 UTC
Published: 2023-04-10 10:31:41 UTC — Updated on 2023-10-11 00:34:30 UTC
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Masaki Nakabayashi
Hisayuki Oshima
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