Every theory of economic growth mirrors the author's view of the economy in which he lives. The Theory of Growth in a Corporate Economy is no exception. Ours is that many phenomena in a modern capitalist economy are best understood by viewing it as “a corporate economy” where the greater part of economic activity is carried out by a limited number of big joint-stock corporations to which entry is difficult and of which the management possesses strong (although not unlimited) power to pursue its own goals, even against the owners' interests. This book attempts to analyze, mainly theoretically, the dynamic properties of such a corporate economy. The scope and method of this study as well as the precise definition of corporate economy are presented in the Introduction.

The book is chiefly addressed to professional economists and postgraduate students, presuming an understanding of microeconomics and macroeconomics at the graduate level. Two chapters are exceptions, however. Chapter 7 discusses Japan's experience as compared to that of the United States. Those who are concerned with business and economic growth in Japan will find the chapter interesting even if they do not have a background in economic theory or have not read the preceding chapters. Chapter 1 describes modern corporations and the goal of management. It also presumes no background in the field because the topic is of interest to a wider range of scholars and students and should be useful as supplementary reading for undergraduate courses on microeconomics, managerial economics, and industrial organization.