在臺灣經濟史領域，1937年以前的產業合理化與戰時經濟統制長期以來被視為臺人資本最受日本殖民者打擊的階段。爾後，山田敦、堀内義隆、高淑媛等新一代日、臺經濟史研究者以諸多實證案例對此一論述提出反省與挑戰。臺灣總督府從產業合理化到戰時經濟統制為止的各項經濟措施是否全然以打壓臺人資本為目的呢？至二次大戰結束為止，臺人資本如能在若干產業獲得生存空間，是否全然以零細經營型態柔軟對應各項統制政策呢？為了重新檢討此一課題，本文擬以汽車運輸業為例，企圖提出一有別於中小民營工廠的歷史面貌。透過本文討論可知，臺灣總督府在1930年代的汽車運輸業產業合理化，乃以解決眾多零細資本的過度競爭、進而提高汽車運輸業的營業效率為關鍵，至於是否協助日人資本取代臺人資本，並非政策考量重點。此一想法在中日戰爭爆發後似乎沒有太大改變，只是臺灣總督府關心的重點逐漸轉為資源如何被有效地整合與運用。戰後臺灣地方汽車客、貨運業的基盤實形構於戰時交通統制，且由原臺人人力輕便鐵道資本與臺人新興交通資本所構成。如果說，臺人資本在中小民營工廠領域乃須「以各種手段、特別是零細規模經營『躲過』經濟統制風潮」，臺人資本在汽車運輸業顯然經歷了與中小民營工廠相異的過程。

Past research on the economic history of Taiwan have often highlighted the fact that Taiwanese capital was radically suppressed by the Japanese colonial authorities under rationalization of industries prior to 1937 and economic control during wartime. In recent years, scholars of the younger generation have challenged this view using case studies. Were the economic measures promulgated by the Governor-General of Taiwan from the 1930s to 1945 aimed at eliminating Taiwanese capital? Could small-scale management with flexibility and adaptability in face of various control policies fully account for the persistence and prosperity of Taiwanese capital in certain industries? This study explores further these issues focusing on the automobile transportation industry. The analysis reveals that the Governor-General of Taiwan sought to curtail the excessive/unhealthy competition of the transportation industry and improve its operating efficiencies in the 1930s. The emphasis was not on replacing Taiwanese capital with Japanese capital and remained so even after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Instead, the Governor-General of Taiwan had his focus on efficient integration of economic resources. As a result, Taiwan’s transportation industry maintained the same organization and operation as that under wartime economic controls even in the post-war era. That is, the transportation industry was operated under the Taiwanese push car railways with the emerging Taiwanese capital in the 1930s. This study concludes that the capital accumulation process of the domestic transportation industry was different from that of other industries operated by small-scale management.