本文主要之目的在說明台灣為何在日據後半期發生偏離典型殖民地雙元性發展模 式的情形。台灣作為殖民發展的異例，正如很多權威性的學者點出的，具體表現在日據末期 農民生活水實質的改善及經濟部門間比較均衡的發展上，而就日資糖業及當時從事台灣研究 的日本學者而言，則展現在米糖相剋問題上。作者不同意把日據台灣特異的殖民發展歸因於 “日本殖民主義不同於歐美殖民主義”或“作物特性使然”的看法，也不認為川野重任等日 本學者既採“市場均衡論”視米糖相剋為“部門生產力發展不平均以致市場衡價格難以達 成”的結果，卻又同時要求“政府介入壓抑米價以追求資源最適配置”的說法能自圓其說。 作者試圖從殖民地內部社經體系與日本資本主義體系不同發展階段上在的社經特性彼此間的 互動來了解這個問題。由於殖民支配必須透過當地既存的社經體系才能進行，作者特別強調 先從剖析－向被忽略的部門內部階級結構及支配關係以及米糖利益團體之結正衝關係入手才 能理解米糖相剋問題的真意及解釋米糖體制危機的形成與解決。

　　　　　The colonial mechanism of surplus extraction centered on the accumulation of Japanese sugar capital. Various studies have shown that the relative stagnation of the rice production in the years prior to 1925 was the key to sugar profits. In the period 1925-1939 the rice sector, which had eluded the penetration of Japanese capital, rapidly expanded production, along with the drastic increase of Japan's market demand for rice. In sharp contrast to the earlier prolonged stagnation, the expanding rice production enriched native producers and raised peasant living standards. In this paper, we study the structural factors, particularly the class structure, that caused the surprising developmental pattern centering on the Taiwanese landlord-dominated rice production in the 1925-39 period and contrast it with the pre-19256 development pattern centering on the Japanese capitalist-dominated sugar production. Beyond the comparison of developmental patterns centering on respective crops, we investigate rice and sugar production and undermined the coloial mechanisms of surplus extraction favoring Japanese sugar capital. During the late 1930s, in order to restore the threatened colonial surplus extraction mechanisms and to create conditions conducive to industrialization, the colonial administration used full scale political coercion to undermine the agricultural terms of trade. Our analysis foucuses on the reshaping of both social and economic structures that contradicted the administration's scheme. Along with the attempt to restructure the indigenous social system in order to weaken the native landlord class and its class associates -- miller/merchants -- in the rice sector, the colonial administration tightened its control of the circulation of rice and eventually monopolized the rice trade. We trace the economic imperatives, as well as the balance of power among conflicting class forces (primarily rice producers, miller/merchants, and Japanese rice exporters vis-a-vis sugar capitalists), in order to understand the reshaping process and its effects.