Financialization of Nonfinancial Corporations and Structural Transformation Under Neoliberalism: The Cases of Japan and South Korea

This article examines the structural transformation of the Japanese and South Korean economies under neoliberal reform and financialization. Existing research has focused mainly on Western economies, leaving underexplored the trajectories of Japan and Korea, which differ from finance-led models such as the United States and United Kingdom. Drawing on a Marxist framework, the study estimates multiple profit rates, including after-tax rates incorporating financial relations, to capture structural shifts more effectively than the conventional profit rate à la Marx. Using national accounts data since the 1970s, the analysis traces capital accumulation, corporate financing, and profitability before and after the late-1990s financial reforms. Financialization coincided with slower capital accumulation, while the manufacturing share of value added remained stable, diverging from Western deindustrialization trends. JEL Classification: E11, O14, F65, G32