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The article takes a look at the American attitudes toward Japan and China in 1937-38. The Chinese Cultural Society of New York published in October 1937 a reprint of 39 editorials from American papers on the Far Eastern crisis. The editor, M. Hsitien Lin wrote in the foreword "Of some 5,000 editorials which have been examined, there is none that justifies Japanese aggression or condemns Chinese resistance. In the American press Japan is almost universally treated as the aggressor and China as the victim in the undeclared war. As to American policy, the press generally favors neither extreme isolationism nor political entanglements or alliances, but a golden mean, whereby world peace, it is hoped, may be maintained." The present study is designed to test the validity of this impression as well as to test the utility of a method of attitude measurement by press sampling. It is impossible here to enter into a discussion of the relationship between beliefs as to facts and emotional attitudes such as are measured by the indices used, except to suggest that attitudes, which are at first accompanied by emotions, may in time become beliefs regarding "facts" which are taken for granted.

This paper sets out theory and measurement of how intangible investment might capture innovation and what data on intangibles look like for the EU, Japan, and the US. We also look at complementarities between information and communications technology (ICT) and intangibles, spillovers from intangibles to growth, and policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is now a well-recognized indication for liver transplantation. This paper reviews existing literature on living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for ALD and presents data from a single, high volume United States liver transplant center. Methods: For the literature review, a PubMed search was undertaken using the search terms 'living donor' and 'alcoholic liver disease'. Studies were included that presented outcome data for patients who underwent LDLT for ALD. For the single-center data collection, all patients who underwent LDLT from 2003 to 2016 at our center were reviewed and the data for recipients with ALD was subsequently analyzed and compared with those patients who underwent LDLT for other indications. Results: Of 110 studies that resulted from the PubMed query, only 5 contained data that was relevant to this manuscript. These studies represented data collected from two Asian countries: one single center in Korea and a collection of centers in Japan. The relapse rate following LDLT for ALD ranged from 7.9% to 22%, and pre-transplant abstinence did not impact post-transplant relapse in any of these studies. For the single-center data, of 136 LDLT performed at our institution during the time period, 22 were performed for ALD. There was no difference in 1- or 5-year survival between patients transplanted for ALD and those transplanted for other etiologies (94.7% vs. 93.4%, P = 0.79 and 78.9% vs. 87.5%, P = 0.6). Conclusion: There is a very limited amount of data available on LDLT for ALD. Existing data suggests that LDLT for ALD results in excellent outcomes. Short Summary: Published data on living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) for alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are limited. One- and five-year survival rates range from 82% to 100% and 78% to 87%, respectively. Rates of alcohol relapse following transplant appear low, ranging from 7% to 23%; 6-month abstinence periods prior to LDLT for ALD do not appear to have a significant impact on relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This pilot study explores the apologies Japanese nursing college students thought they would use in their L1 (i.e. Japanese) and their L2 (i.e. English) when bumping into each other. The students completed a questionnaire, the results of which indicated that they believed they should always apologize for bumping into someone. The paper describes apologies students expected to use in both languages and their observations of real-world apologies in Japan and the US. After reviewing differences between their L1 and L2 apologies and their perceived and observed apologies, the paper discusses students’ sociopragmatic, pragmalinguistic, and linguistic discoveries. The findings have implications for instructors who are interested in investigating and teaching the speech act. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper shows that firms from financial centres are more likely to go public than their provincial counterparts. The financial centre bias is analysed for 32 countries, including the European Union, the USA and Japan. It is particularly strong in countries with underdeveloped stock markets and closed corporate governance regimes, but it is still present in countries with the most developed stock markets and most open corporate governance, such as the UK and the USA. Potential reasons for the bias include the benefits of issuers’ proximity to Initial Public Offerings intermediaries and specialised labour markets, corporate governance incentives and institutional factors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines news coverage of overseas natural disasters in Japan and the United States and assesses the extent to which that coverage affects amounts and types of emergency assistance provided by each country's ODA program. The comparison between the two cases allows for the examination of the different effects of media on foreign policy as well as the different ways in which those effects are filtered through institutional arrangements within the aid policy-making apparatus in each country. Following up comparative work on media impact on development aid programs in five countries, this paper argues that the organization of emergency assistance programs is a key determinant in explaining media impact on aid policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information about several articles related to the field of public opinion, published in the various journals is presented. The paper "Framing science: The stem cell controversy in an age of press/politics," by Matthew C. Nisbet and coworkers published in "The Harvard International Journal of Press/ Politics" focuses on the controversy arose over human embryonic stem cell research in the United States and the role of mass media in the dispute. In the paper "Restricting the broadcast and publication of pre-election and exit polls: Some selected examples," Tim Bale studies the impact of legal restrictions on the publication of election polls. The paper "'Exit' and 'Voice' in the Japanese general elections," by Takahiro Kimura explores the cause of non-voting in Japan.

Four years after the introduction of the euro, this paper provides an overview of the current structure and integration of the euro‐area financial systems and related policy initiatives. We first compare the euro‐area financial structure with those of the United States and Japan. Using new and comprehensive financial account data, we also describe how the euro‐area financial structure has evolved since 1995. We document the progress towards integration of the major euro‐area financial segments, namely money markets, bond markets, equity markets, and banking. Finally, we discuss recent policy initiatives aimed at further improving European financial integration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper argues that a fundamental failing in the debate on the decline of American economic power is not taking globalization seriously. With the rise of transnational corporations ( TNCs), transnational modular production networks, and the globalization of corporate ownership, we can no longer give the same relevance to national accounts such as balance of trade and GDP in the twenty-first century as we did in the mid-twentieth. Rather, we must summon data on the TNCs themselves to encompass their transnational operations. This will reveal, for example, that despite the declining global share of United States GDP from 40% in 1960 to below a quarter from 2008 onward, American corporations continue to dominate sector after sector. In fact, in certain advanced sectors such as aerospace and software-even in financial services-American dominance has increased since 2008. There are no serious contenders, including China. By looking at the wrong data, many have failed to see that American economic power has not declined-it has globalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the relational model of inequality using samples of employer-employee matched data from manufacturing plants in the United States and Japan. We argue that gender is a salient status characteristic in both the United States and Japan, but because of differences in gender politics, wage inequality will vary more across U.S. workplaces than Japanese workplaces. We find this claim to be supported, and then we model this variation as a function of exploitation and opportunity hoarding processes. Women's exclusion from high-wage plants and gender-linked claims-making resources help to explain between and within plant wage variation in U.S. workplaces. In Japan, where gender distinctions were less locally contested, access to lifetime employment and gender differences in labor supply generate local gender wage gaps. This paper provides evidence on the utility of relational inequality theory and an empirical strategy to observe the exploitation and opportunity hoarding mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, I compare activities in biotech firms in the two countries based on firm-level data in 2004 (443 Japanese firms, 12 of which are listed publicly, and 1,446 US firms, 431 of which are public). First, I found that Japanese firms are much smaller than US firms, even after controlling for firm age and technology field. Furthermore, Japanese firms grow over time, while the size of US firms does not change. These findings suggest that there are some differences in the biotech business models of the two countries. I also found that US firms spend a large amount of R&D particularly in the areas of medical and health, while Japanese firms do not. Therefore, most Japanese firms do not invest a substantial amount of R&D in risky areas but run businesses in low-risk areas, such as providing R&D services. I argue that such differences in startup activities can be explained by differences in the venture capital markets between Japan and the US. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While it is common for teachers to focus on learners’ errors in the EFL classroom, little attention is given to the ‘errors’ that native English speakers make in their mother tongue. This paper reports on a study to assess the reaction of Japanese university students to an activity that primarily required identifying ‘ungrammatical’ forms in audio clips of English NSs. The results of a post-activity questionnaire suggest that exposure to this particular feature of spoken language may make students less inhibited about making errors and thus help to overcome their reticence to speak in class. These initial findings were confirmed in a follow-up study conducted at a second Japanese university. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article focuses on the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Japan from 1905 to 1913. Newspapers in both Japan and the U.S. printed rumors of an imminent war, leading to a fall of Tokyo, Japan's stock market in 1907, and a diplomatic mission of U.S. Secretary of War William Howard Taft was sent to Japan by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt the same year. The author considers how the Russo-Japanese War, improvements in communication and mass media, colonialism, and ethnic biases helped deteriorate American-Japanese relations at the beginning of the 20th century.

This paper analyzes the transition to the entrepreneurial university as part of a broader shift to a knowledge-based economy, arising from a complex interplay between exogenous (top-down) and endogenous factors (bottom-up) of a more or less similar nature, combined in different ways in different countries. Drawing on the experience of four countries (US, Sweden, Japan and Brazil) with different institutional trajectories and degrees of academic entrepreneurial transformation, under varying degrees of state control and levels of university initiative, we argue that a global convergence is currently taking shape toward entrepreneurial universities playing a central role in a knowledge-based economy that moves beyond etatism and pure market relations to an intermediate position within a triple helix regime. The role of public venture capital in financing the transition to the entrepreneurial university and its possible interventions in a counter-cyclical business model, which is also active in periods of economic downturn, are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To simultaneously account for the properties of interest-rate term structure and foreign exchange rates within one arbitrage-free framework, we propose a class of multi-currency quadratic models (MCQM) with an (m + n) factor structure in the pricing kernel of each economy. The m factors model the term structure of interest rates. The n factors capture the portion of the exchange rate movement that is independent of the term structure. Our modeling framework represents the first in the literature that not only explicitly allows independent currency movement, but also guarantees internal consistency across all economies without imposing any artificial constraints on the exchange rate dynamics. We estimate a series of multi-currency quadratic models using U.S. and Japanese LIBOR and swap rates and the exchange rate between the two economies. Estimation shows that independent currency factors are essential in releasing the tension between the currency movement and the term structure of interest rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of preferential trade liberalization over the last 20 years has raised the question of whether it slows multilateral trade liberalization. Recent theoretical and empirical evidence indicates that this is the case even for unilateral preferences that developed countries provide to small and poor countries, but there is no estimate of the resulting welfare costs. This stumbling block effect can be avoided by replacing the unilateral preferences with fixed import subsidy, which generates a Pareto improvement. More importantly, this paper presents the first estimates of the welfare cost of the preferential liberalization as a stumbling block to multilateral liberalization. Recent estimates of the stumbling block effect of preferences with data for 170 countries and more than 5,000 products are used to calculate the welfare effects of the European Union, Japan, and the United States from switching to unilateral preferences for least developed countries to an import subsidy scheme. In a model with no dynamic gains to trade, the switch produces an annual net welfare gain for the 170 countries that adds about 10 percent to the estimated trade liberalization gains in the Doha Round. It also generates gains for each group: the European Union, Japan, and the United States ($2,934 million) least developed countries ($520 million) and the rest of the world ($900 million). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telecommunications is a leading industry that occupies a significant part of the contemporary economy and impacts economic development considerably. Since the 1980s, three major trade disputes in telecommunications – the NTT procurement, MOSS/Motorola, and NTT interconnection charge disputes – have developed between the Japanese and US governments. In responding to US pressures, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) has generally been receptive to US demands and willing to contain negotiations to a bilateral format, unlike the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, which has become resistant to US pressures and active in utilizing multilateral arrangements. This paper shows that explicit government involvement in the industry concerned, combined with strong US pursuit of negotiations, made it difficult for MPT to resist US pressure and resulted in its enactment of measures conciliatory toward the United States. These findings are then applied to brief analyses of other trade disputes to show the generalizability of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to analyze Japan's conciliation with the United States regarding national targets on greenhouse gas emissions in the multilateral climate change negotiations (1990–2001) for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and for the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention. Japan's conciliatory proposals had nothing to do with bilateral pressure from the United States. Why, then, did Japan make special efforts to conciliate with the United States, and offer lenient proposals? I focus on three factors: concern for international status, the costs of the climate change regime and domestic politics. My main argument is that the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry used ‘conciliation’ with the United States in its favor as an excuse for making proposals that would emasculate the climate change regime and as a means of receiving support from the United States for differentiation of national targets on greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union over the first 4 years of its existence. Monetary policy is viewed as having been of the ‘inflation‐targeting’ type, but with a tendency towards delay and conservatism in adjustment, which may also reflect over‐optimistic output growth forecasts. The resulting pressure on the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) illustrates the weakness in the ‘consensus view’ of the harmonious interaction of monetary, fiscal, and supply‐side policies, which requires policy in all three areas to be ‘correct’. In discussing reform of the SGP, a looser but still constraining form of fiscal agreement is advocated. The supply‐side and balance‐of‐payments issues involved in inter‐country adjustment also interact importantly with the SGP and are identified as key areas of difficulty in a still ‘immature’ monetary union, with separate labour‐market structures. Here the mechanisms for coordination are more or less absent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The United States today dominates the globe and many regional geographical subsystems in an unprecedented way, maintaining a hegemonic order that is in no way similar to the ‘anarchy’ assumed in realist analyses. The global system today is not simply unipolar; it is a hegemonic system that is increasingly globalized, in which the basic concepts of realism (anarchy, self‐help and power balancing) provide little guidance or understanding in explaining state behavior. This paper describes the US hegemonic system, analyzes the roles of China and Japan within this system, and examines how the Bush administration's plans for missile defense might transform the system. The conclusion points to some critical implications from this analysis for realist interpretations of international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the logic behind US and Japanese approaches to regional security and the prospects for a more comprehensive co‐operative security order in the Asia‐Pacific. The current security order in the region bears the marks of long‐established and distinctive American and Japanese approaches. These approaches do hold out some hope in building a more inclusive and co‐operative order, but for years to come the Asia‐Pacific will be a region that will exist somewhere between a balance of power and a community‐based security order. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background and Objectives This study examined the stability over time of activities of daily living (ADL) items in 3 comparable longitudinal data sets and evaluated ADL loss sequences for older adults in the United States, South Korea, and Japan. Research Design and Methods Data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, and its 2 international sister surveys, were analyzed. Participants were community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older. For each data set, Rasch analysis was implemented to determine if the ordering of items remained stable across multiple waves (2006–2014), such that a single ADL hierarchy may be derived from multiwave data. Results Data fitted the Rasch model well. Item calibrations were sufficiently stable across measurement periods in each data set, reflecting a stable frame of reference. Results were also robust to sample variations. The derived ADL hierarchies based on scaled logit scores revealed that "dressing" and "bathing" were relatively more difficult items for older adults in all study populations. Discussion and Implications Scale stability is essential when exploiting longitudinal data to analyze patterns in ADL disabilities. The consistency in ADL scales across measurement periods supports their use as screening tools and identifying those at risk for transitions in care. Interventions to reduce dependency in bathing and dressing can help improve independent functioning for community-dwelling older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is complementary to the recent cross-country studies of Jeffrey Sachs (1979), and William Branson and Julio Rotemberg (1980), which document the contrast between nominal wage inertia in the postwar United States and real wage inertia in Europe and Japan, and examine the theoretical and policy implications of this contrast. Here I begin with another procedure for documenting the difference in nominal wage behaviour among the United Kingdom, United States and Japan, and then concentrate on explaining its causes rather than its consequences. Real wage inertia plays no role in my analysis, reflecting my finding that the real wage rate in quarterly postwar data for the United Kingdom and Japan displays more variability than in the United States. The basic argument of this paper comes down to three main points: (1) Macroeconomic instability in the United States has been aggravated by the unusually sluggish behaviour of nominal wages during the postwar era. Whether measured as the standard deviation of wages relative to hours worked, or the ratio of the respective response coefficients of wages and hours worked to changes in nominal GNP, wages in Britain and Japan are five to ten times more responsive than in the United States. Thus, of any given fluctuation in aggregate nominal demand, a larger fraction takes the form of a change in real output and employment in the United States than in the United Kingdom or Japan. (2) The drastic decline of American wage responsiveness in the postwar period as compared to the years between 1892 and 1940, together with the 1948 invention of the three-year staggered wage contract in the American unionised industrial sector, seems to be more than coincidental. It is not only the long duration of US contracts, but also their staggered nature, that makes wage changes relatively unresponsive to expansions or contractions in nominal GNP growth. (3) Japanese labour market institutions look much more like those suggested a... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, part of a larger effort to explicate the nature of American exceptionalism, is based on an assumption recently enunciated by Kazuo Ogura: 'To define the "other" is to know one's nation' (Lokker, I992, p- 2). A person who knows only one country basically knows no country well. Comparing the United States or Japan with other nations is the best way to learn about each. In a previous work, I dealt with Canada, and argued that 'it is precisely because the two North American democracies have so much in common that they permit students of each to gain insights into the factors that cause variations' (Lipset, 1990). Here, I shift to looking at the two outliers, the two developed nations which are most different from each other. They clearly haste distinct organizing principles. And their values, institutions and behaviors fit into sharply different functional wholes. These variations, of course, have been written about in myriad comparative scholarly, business and journalistic works. Given my limited contact with Japan (five visits covering a total of six mouths oster 30 years), I cannot add to them observationally. This article, however, seeks to elaborate and test the validity of the qualitative analyses by a comprehensive examination of the comparative data on opinions, values and behavior, collected by public opinion agencies (Glazer, 1976). As will be evident, there are astonishingly large differences between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North–South competition quality Analyzing a new database that makes it possible to disaggregate trade flows across many countries according to unit values, we show that international specialization in terms of quality within industries and product categories plays an important role in the dynamics of North–South competition. The different specialization of countries at different levels of development within products and across varieties is mirrored in the recent shifts in world market shares, which are very different across quality segments: the South is not gaining market share in high-value portions of trade pattern. In this respect Europe's specialization pattern appears to be different from that of the US and Japan, and may allow it to better resist the competitive pressure of the South. — Lionel Fontagné, Guillaume Gaulier and Soledad Zignago [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the Japanese-American relations from the end of World War I to the Washington Conference of 1921-1922. During the period, leaders of both nations were aware of the contrast between the Old and New Diplomacy. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson presented his vision of international idealism. Several Japanese government leaders responded positively to the vision of Wilson.

The war on terror and the war in Iraq pose three challenges for foreign aid. The first concern is that donors may hijack foreign aid to pursue their own security objectives rather than development and the alleviation of poverty. The second concern is that the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the wider war on terror will gobble up aid budgets. The third concern is that major donors are continuing to impose competing and sometimes clashing priorities on aid recipients and this erodes rather than builds the capacity of some of the world's neediest governments. This article assesses the emerging aid policies of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union and proposes practical measures that could bolster an effective development-led foreign aid system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General Joseph Stilwell, commander of the Tenth U.S. Army on Okinawa, made note in his diary of the visitors he saw. His comments on his meeting with Air Vice Marshal Sir Hugh Lloyd of the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 12 July 1945 were brief and to the point. The RAF would soon be joining in on the bombing of Japan from bases on Okinawa. Stilwell had never really liked the British and was less than eager to welcome them to the island, but his reaction to the British presence was the exception, rather than the rule. Although the conflict ended before the RAF joined in the bombing, the negotiations to incorporate it into the campaign did take place, and those talks showed that policymakers in both Washington and London, particularly those in uniform, realized that the war was a cooperative effort that had to service many different interests, not just those found in their capital.

This paper examines the second stage of natural second language attrition in the first language environment as observed in a Japanese male returnee child. The second stage is the second part of a longitudinal study encompassing a total of 33 months of observation. The first stage, which is reported elsewhere (Tomiyama 1999), commences with month 2 of his return and continues until month 19. The second stage comprises month 20 through month 33. The stages are so labeled retrospectively because of a natural division in the qualitative changes observed in the subject's production data rather than because of absolute chronological periods. The subject, who spent seven years in the United States, was 8;0 at the time of his return. The overall baseline data shows that he was highly proficient in English. The second stage is characterized as a period of change in syntax and morphology yet stability in lexicon and fluency. A structural change in the modification of nouns, from post-nominal to pre-nominal, is noted. The reason for the structural change is attributed in part to syntactic reduction and in part to interlingual transfer to cope with the deficiency in L2. Some attrition in morphology, plural and past irregular morphemes, in particular, is also observed. On the other hand, no substantial amount of loss in productive vocabulary is observed; there is even recovery of some items. Also it is noted that the level of fluency at the beginning of the second stage remains constant throughout this stage. Overall, the study reveals the differential attrition pattern in the subject's linguistic subsystems and fluctuation in the subject's performance. It also illustrates the value and relevance of examining data over a long span of time to capture a macroscopic view of language behavior patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

European countries do less research than Japan and the United States. But their lower level of research effort has more to do with the smaller markets facing European inventors than with lower research productivity. Europe has substantial research potential, in that increasing research effort in most European countries generates bigger income benefits there than increasing research effort in the United States and Japan by equivalent amounts. Research subsidies, enhanced patent protection, support for public research, higher educational achievement and increased integration are alternative routes towards exploiting this potential. These policies increase productivity not only in Europe, but also elsewhere. One problem with implementing such policies at the national level is the potential for free riding. A second possible problem with policies to promote research concerns their distributional consequences. While all countries within the European Union would benefit from increased research output, the countries that are already best at doing research, which tend to be the richer members, do best. The benefits of policies that facilitate the adoption of innovations are more evenly spread among richer and poorer countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the question: How should the developing countries view the prospects of significant MFN tariff reductions in light of their existing tariff advantages under the GSP? Our calculations of the static effects, based on a differentiated product model, indicate that the developing countries stand more to gain from MFN tariff cuts than they will lose from the simultaneous erosion of their GSP preferential tariff margins.[1] Their gross trade expansion during the preference period amounts to $401 million annually and consists of $106 million to beneficiaries from MFN cuts on products restricted by GSP value limits, $27 million to beneficiaries from MFN cuts on products not included under the GSP schemes, and $268 million to non-beneficiaries; the annual loss due to the erosion of GSP tariff margins is only $32 million. Then why is it that the developing countries have expressed such concern that the forthcoming MFN negotiations hold the prospect of adversely affecting their world trading interests? It could be that the beneficiary developing countries are optimistic about future improvements in the GSP schemes. If such improvements include the elimination of value limits on GSP trade and an extension beyond the initial 10 year duration of the GSP, MFN tariff reductions would impose a net cost to beneficiaries of some $40-50 million annually in foregone trade flows. A final consideration for the developing countries may be a desire to keep the GSP alive with improvements being negotiated in the UNCTAD forum which has proved to be sympathetic to the trade problems of developing countries. In contrast, MFN negotiations would come under the auspices of the GATT, a forum which has generally downplayed the objective of economic development and instead concentrated on reconciling the trade problems of the industrial nations. But with UNCTAD playing an advisory role to the developing countries as they approach the GATT negotiations, we should expect t... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of σ-convergence, absolute β-convergence and conditional β-convergence are discussed in this paper. The concepts are applied to a variety of data sets that include a large cross-section of 110 countries, the sub-sample of OECD countries, the states within the United States, the prefectures of Japan, and regions within several European countries. Except for the large cross-section of countries, all data sets display strong evidence of σ-convergence and absolute β-convergence. The cross-section of countries exhibits σ-divergence and conditional β-convergence. The speed of conditional convergence, which is very similar across data sets, is close to 2% per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper joins central concerns in the sociology of work and the sociology of aging. Age differences in work commitment and work values are examined, as well as their work and nonwork determinants, using data from 4,567 American and 3,735 Japanese employees. Our results show that older men are more committed to work than younger men in both Japan and the United States. This pattern also holds for American women, but there are no age differences in work commitment among Japanese women. Moreover, there are greater age differences among the Japanese in the importance placed on good pay. This is consistent with the view that there has been greater cultural change in recent years in Japan than in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the development of Plant and Cell Physiology (PCP) from 2004 activities and 2005 prospectives in Japan. The author cites the acceptance of online submission of manuscripts from the different countries including China, U.S., Germany and Japan that was started on October 1, 2004. He numerates the 2005 PCP Editorial Board members. The author also outlines the new instructions for author concerning their manuscripts that are submitted electronically from January 1, 2005.

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the processes of institutional transition--the break down of the old and the emergence of a new equilibrium. Specifically, it purports to show how the traditional Japanese family modifies its organization as it responds to economic, cultural, and moral forces at work in Hawaii. A comprehensive study of institutional transition requires a knowledge of what the institution was prior to its modification, and an understanding of the relevant factors which, by interacting with the traditional values, produce a new structure. A knowledge of the former gives a basis for an orderly description of the changes in institutional structure, a knowledge of the latter provides a conceptual framework for a systematic description of the available facts of changing institutional behavior patterns. The traditional family in Japan is, unlike the husband-wife centered unit of the society, essentially a parent-child centered unit. Herein lies the conceptual and ideological difference between the Oriental and Occidental family system.

The Japan-American revised Security Treaty of 1960 allows Japan to give notice in 1970 of her desire to abrogate the treaty. Does the present state of public opinion in that country suggest that such a notice will be given? This paper is a careful analysis of nationwide poll findings in Japan which by no means indicate that the United States can afford to be complacent regarding the answer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reexamines the theory of monetary power to explain the role of the Bundesbank (and Germany) in the emergence of the rules-based low-inflation regime in the late1980s and early 1990s. Our theory of monetary power draws on the notion of institutional power and the concept of monetary leadership, understood as the capacity to attract foreign investment, and thereby explains how domestic institutional features and contingent historical events affect countries' external monetary power. This theory is employed to trace how the Bundesbank go-it-alone strategy in 1989 triggered a cross-national sequence of events that changed the international monetary order in a way that was consistent with the German interests. The transition was marked by a shift from the US-led pragmatist approach of international macroeconomic coordination to a rules-based approach founded on the principle of low-inflation–targeting. The article argues that this change took place despite the opposition of the Federal Reserve System (Fed) and the US Treasury. The article contributes to the literature on the decline of US hegemonic power as well as the literature on the mechanism of institutional change at the international level. It also sheds new light on current debates about the putative decline of the rules-based world order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this research, we examine the influence of beliefs about fairness on bargaining behavior. Using a repeated ultimatum game, we examine bargaining contexts in Japan and the United States in which buyers' or sellers' fair beliefs are either in alignment with or in conflict with their own self-interest. We suggest that understanding the relationship between fair beliefs and self-interest is central to understanding when fair beliefs will influence bargaining behavior. Our results demonstrate that fair beliefs predict bargaining behavior when they are aligned with one's own self-interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most measures of consumer behavior have been developed and employed in the United States. Thus, relatively little is known about the cross-cultural applicability of these measures. Using Richins and Dawson's (1992) Material Values Scale (MVS) as an exemplar, this article focuses on the problems researchers are likely to encounter when employing domestic mixed-worded scales (i.e., scales that contain both positive-and reverse-worded items) in cross-cultural applications. Through an initial study among over 800 adults from the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Korea, we show that the cross-cultural measurement equivalence and construct validity of the MVS is challenged by its mixed-worded Likert format. Through a second study among approximately 400 Americans and East Asians, we find that other mixed-worded scales produce similar problems and that the cross-cultural applicability of such scales may be enhanced by replacing items posed as statements with items framed as questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using industrial firms from the United States, German, and Japan, we examine the effect of bank power on cash holdings. We show that Japanese firms hold more cash than U.S. or German firms. We also document that Japanese cash balances are affected by the monopoly power of banks. During periods with powerful banks, firms' high cash holdings are consistent with banks extracting rents. When banks weakened, Japanese cash levels became more like U.S. firms. We conclude that strong Japanese banks persuade firms to hold large cash balances. This is contrary to widely held beliefs about the Japanese governance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosimilar filgrastims are primarily indicated for chemotherapy‐induced neutropenia prevention. They are less expensive formulations of branded filgrastim, and biosimilar filgrastim was the first biosimilar oncology drug administered in European Union (EU) countries, Japan, and the U.S. Fourteen biosimilar filgrastims have been marketed in EU countries, Japan, the U.S., and Canada since 2008, 2012, 2015, and 2016, respectively. We reviewed experiences and policies for biosimilar filgrastim markets in EU countries and Japan, where uptake has been rapid, and in the U.S. and Canada, where experience is rapidly emerging. U.S. regulations for designating biosimilar interchangeability are under development, and such regulations have not been developed in most other countries. Pharmaceutical substitution is allowed for new filgrastim starts in some EU countries and in Canada, but not Japan and the U.S. In EU countries, biosimilar adoption is facilitated with favorable hospital tender offers. U.S. adoption is reportedly 24%, while the second filgrastim biosimilar is priced 30% lower than branded filgrastim and 20% lower than the first biosimilar filgrastim approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Utilization is about 60% in EU countries, where biosimilar filgrastim is marketed at a 30%–40% discount. In Japan, biosimilar filgrastim utilization is 45%, primarily because of 35% discounts negotiated by Central Insurance and hospital‐only markets. Overall, biosimilar filgrastim adoption barriers are small in many EU countries and Japan and are diminishing in Canada in the U.S. Policies facilitating improved U.S. adoption of biosimilar filgrastim, based on positive experiences in EU countries and Japan, including favorable insurance coverage; larger price discount relative to reference filgrastim pricing; closing of the "rebate trap" with transparent pricing information; formal educational efforts of patients, physicians, caregivers, and providers; and allowance of pharmaceutical substitution of biosimilar versus reference filgrastim, should be considered. Implications for Practice: We reviewed experiences and policies for biosimilar filgrastims in Europe, Japan, Canada, and the U.S. Postmarketing harmonization of regulatory policies for biosimilar filgrastims has not occurred. Acceptance of biosimilar filgrastims for branded filgrastim, increasing in the U.S. and in Canada, is commonplace in Japan and Europe. In the U.S., some factors, accepted in Europe or Japan, could improve uptake, including acceptance of biosimilars as safe and effective; larger cost savings, decreasing "rebate traps" where pharmaceutical benefit managers support branded filgrastim, decreased use of patent litigation/challenges, and allowing pharmacists to routinely substitute biosimilar for branded filgrastim. Filgrastim patents have expired worldwide, opening the way for biosimilars. Biosimilar filgrastim, a less expensive formulation of reference filgrastim, is the most common biosimilar oncology drug administered worldwide and is hoped to decrease oncology pharmaceutical costs in the U.S., as has happened in other countries. This article reviews the experiences and policies related to biosimilar filgrastim markets in European countries and Japan, where uptake has been rapid, and in the U.S. and Canada, where experience is emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study: This study examines national variations in social networks among older adults across 4 countries in diverse regions of the world: Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, and the United States. The aim is to provide insights into universal as well as unique attributes of social networks in later life. Design and Methods: The analyses examine convoy characteristics among adults aged 50+ in metropolitan areas of Japan (N = 557), Lebanon (N = 284), Mexico (N = 556), and the United States (N = 583). Data were collected using the hierarchical mapping technique on representative samples in each locale. Multilevel models were conducted by nation to examine whether convoy characteristics vary by age and closeness. Results: Network size and geographic proximity were dimensions of social networks sensitive to national context. By contrast, how age and feelings of closeness varied with contact frequency and the presence of children in networks revealed universal patterns. Furthermore, feelings of closeness varied by age with regard to size and contact frequency in Lebanon, proximity in Japan, and composition in Mexico. Implications: Identifying universal and unique characteristics of social networks in later life provide a preliminary empirical basis upon which to advance a global perspective on convoys of social relations and how they inform policies that can facilitate health and well-being among middle-aged and older people around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author summarizes the various developments of business strategy, business finance and labor management in Great Britain, U.S. and Japan, and explains from a long-term business history perspective the meaning of the business system in Japan after World War II as compared to those in Great Britain and the U.S. The international differences in basic business strategies which developed at the early stages of the countries' industrialization resulted in the emergence of industrial and business organizations unique to the respective nations which in turn gave rise to the different modes of business performance among the industrial nations.

This article discusses the relationship between the evolution of corporate structure and the structure of the financial systems within the U.S., British, German, French and Japanese economies during the first half of the twentieth century. The financial system of each of these economies exerted an important influence on the development of corporate structure, but did so largely through facilitating, rather then determining, organizational innovation. The financial system of each of these economies influenced the selection environment within which firms developed, but this environment reflected the operation of other factors as well. The relationship between the evolution of corporate and financial structure is an interactive one that exhibits considerable path-dependence; the array of economic and technological opportunities available to one firm or to one economy contrasts with that faced by another firm or economy at a different historical moment.

Abstract: Biologic agents are currently the fastest emerging segment of drug expenditure. Unlike chemically synthesized small‐molecule drugs, biologics are more complex, medicinal products produced by a living organism. They have become part of the standard of care in the treatment of a large variety of diseases, such as growth disorders, autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular illnesses, hemophilia, and rare genetic conditions, to name a few. Biosimilars, which are copies of biologics that are highly similar, were introduced in the market with an aim to offer efficacy that is not clinically different from the originator or reference product, at lower prices. We aim to clarify the concept of biosimilar, from definitions, history, market entry, challenges faced, and future evolution. For that purpose, we performed a literature search on the sites of the medicines regulatory agencies and PubMed from 1990 to 2014 with the keywords “biosimilars,” “market,” and “regulatory.” In 2006, the first biosimilar, somatropin [rDNA origin], was marketed and led the way for biosimilar drug manufacturing. As a result, manufacturers have entered a diversified competition, facing challenges in manufacturing these complex agents, such as immunogenicity and efficiency. Biosimilars are set to evolve differently in various markets, namely the U.S., Japan, the European Union, and the “pharmerging” economies. Implications for Practice: This article highlights the importance of biosimilars, as a cost‐cutting strategy, in the delivery of state‐of‐the‐art health care in developing countries, at a fraction of what a reference biological agent would cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the sister-city program between San Francisco, California and Osaka, Japan during the early Cold War in 1945-1991. It argues that the program offered connections and cultural frameworks which redefined both cities in alignment with the goals of a cohort of Pacific-oriented businessmen, who all used the affiliation to represent Japan as a capable, equal and mature partner. It shifts the perspective on public diplomacy from federal development or oversight to local adoption and enactment. It also uses transnational and local frameworks to understand how the affiliation developed in San Francisco.

The article explores on the role of the U.S. in shaping the East Asian order around American military and economic dominance. It states that the U.S. system provides security, political partnerships, underwriting stability and alliances with Japan, South Korea and other partners across Asia. It stresses the rise of Chinese economic and military capabilities with explicit balance of power dynamic in multilateral trade and cooperation. It also notes that the American-led alliance system deepened the economic and security ties with the regions.

Background: The Seven Countries Study in the 1960s showed very low mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Japan, which was attributed to very low levels of total cholesterol. Studies of migrant Japanese to the USA in the 1970s documented increase in CHD rates, thus CHD mortality in Japan was expected to increase as their lifestyle became Westernized, yet CHD mortality has continued to decline since 1970. This study describes trends in CHD mortality and its risk factors since 1980 in Japan, contrasting those in other selected developed countries.Methods: We selected Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA. CHD mortality between 1980 and 2007 was obtained from WHO Statistical Information System. National data on traditional risk factors during the same period were obtained from literature and national surveys.Results: Age-adjusted CHD mortality continuously declined between 1980 and 2007 in all these countries. The decline was accompanied by a constant fall in total cholesterol except Japan where total cholesterol continuously rose. In the birth cohort of individuals currently aged 50-69 years, levels of total cholesterol have been higher in Japan than in the USA, yet CHD mortality in Japan remained the lowest: >67% lower in men and > 75% lower in women compared with the USA. The direction and magnitude of changes in other risk factors were generally similar between Japan and the other countries.Conclusions: Decline in CHD mortality despite a continuous rise in total cholesterol is unique. The observation may suggest some protective factors unique to Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]