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How much is hegemony and how much is self-determination in the higher education systems in Southeast Asia? This paper argues that while the question of centre and periphery is still relevant to the analysis of international university systems, the analytical frameworks from which it has arisen may lose viability in the long term. Southeast Asian states are making use of higher education to act in ways that will contribute to the altering of their peripheral position in the global economic and political system. While changes in Southeast Asian higher education are closely tied to global markets and follow what sometimes appears to be a dependent pattern of adaptations driven by Western developed economies, the paper argues that there is also a significant amount of resistance. As Southeast Asian countries adapt in ways that help embed economic globalisation within their national landscape, the manner in which the adaptation occurs is more selective, open, and democratic than before. Moreover, while global communication with core (centre) university systems has been more open and transparent, the system is closed to direct intervention from the outside, making hegemony a less plausible explanation for the manner in which the system is reacting within the new global environment of financial interdependency.

With the experience of two severe disasters (the Hanshin Awaji Earthquake disaster of 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster of 2011), I wish to consider 'subsistence' as human life, existence equaling the basic activities of life, an essential mutual act-like existence economy. In this paper, I pursue a positive development of 'disaster-time economics' as a research object under the larger framework of the formation of a 'moral economy,' as part of a critical process. In this paper, in order that a stricken area and society may aim at the realization of a new methodology about 'creative revival' for newly developing independent research involving the state of the revival fund of a wide sense is carried out. Nevertheless, there is an overall understanding of who, in what areas, and using what methodology, has conducted research in the restoration and revival process, as well as the weak points that tend to hinder the process. There is no research on the rationality and function of public finance expenditures or national sources expenditures. Therefore, in this paper, the term 'disaster-time economy' is newly prepared. From this concept, many activities of the project, service, support, self-efforts etc. of a social and private domain are grasped from a public sphere in connection with the process of maintenance/restoration under the disaster. The feature and subject point of the process are clarified. The market economy order that is going to be produced in this process does the basic work and determines the economic order for another self-subsistence over life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is known to have an exceptionally low level of inward foreign direct investment (FDI). The promotion of inward FDI is one of the policy goals of Abenomics structural reforms. This present paper studies the accumulation of Japan's inward FDI stock during the first 3 years of Abenomics (2012-2015), and finds no evidence that Japan's inward FDI stock increased more than the trend before Abenomics started would have predicted. A comparison of the main policies for promoting inward FDI that have been implemented to the real and perceived impediments to inward FDI reveals that it may be advisable to shift the emphasis of the policy to address more regulatory and administrative issues and to reduce the cost of doing business in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a roundtable discussion by economists Chalongphop Sussangkarn, Xiaolan Fu and Prema-chandra Athukorala, on issue of recyclable materials from Japan. Sussangkarn mentions the lacked of a coherent conceptual framework on why countries are ready to import waste. Xiaolan suggests the importance of funding for observatory research on waste material import. Athukorala also expresses the value of trade in waste generates employment and export earnings.

This paper explores the causal relationship between real exports and GDP growth in Japan using two recently developed causal modelling approaches. Using Japanese time series, the paper employed the augmented VAR methodology developed by Toda and Yamamoto to test for Granger non-causality. Then, a more recently developed technique of directed acyclic graphs (DAG) was also used in providing over-identifying restrictions on the innovations from a vector autoregression (VAR). In contrast to prior analyses, the application of DAG techniques allows for the examination of both contemporaneous and dynamic causal structure of the exports-productivity nexus. The empirical results reveal that the causal path between exports and GDP growth in Japan is bi-directional. Furthermore, other variables such as capital and foreign output are also significant determinants of productivity growth in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the development potential of rural and highly peripheral areas of Japan, focusing on local factors of development, together with local identity and cultural commodities, as these are incorporated into what has been called the culture economy. Based on a survey of informed local residents and another of local cultural commodities producers, the paper alludes to what constitutes a culture economy for rural settings and identifies several key aspects related to the process of such a cultural commodities-based approach to development. While confirming the importance of identity and cultural commodities in the local development profile of rural settings, the paper sets the groundwork for further research concerning the complex process for how such development can be achieved. The main themes identified for further research include both the nature and role of residents’ solidarity together with the combinative nature of government support and local entrepreneurship in the local culture economy on the one hand, and the character of the advertising and media representation by which cultural commodities are created and maintained on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper estimates the effect of the Abe Cabinet's Womanomics policies that aimed to increase female labor supply and keep women on a career path. The policies are surveyed, and the effects are estimated using microdata from the Labor Force Survey combined with data at the prefectural level on day care provision. A difference-in-difference (DD) method is applied to uncover the impacts of the Abe Cabinet's policies. The rapid increase in the provision of infant care, especially in the urban area, has contributed to a strong increase in the labor participation of mothers with young children. In addition, DD method estimates show a strong increase in mothers with infants staying in permanent-contract regular employment. A significant shortening of work hours of workers, especially of parents with infants, is observed, which enabled working mothers to maintain their employment status. A change in the gender wage gap in the Japanese labor market is observed, but much progress is still required to close the large wage gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes how a firm's management of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions affects its economic performance. The theoretical model we derive from Cobb-Douglas production and inverse demand functions predict that in conducting GHG emissions management, a firm will enhance its economic performance because it promotes an increase in demand for its output and improves its productivity. The estimation results, using panel data on Japanese manufacturing firms during the period 2007-2008, support the view that a firm's GHG emissions management enhances a firm's economic performance through an increase in demand and improvement in productivity. However, the latter effect is conditional. Although a firm's efforts to maintain lower GHG emissions improves productivity, efforts to reduce GHG emissions further does not always improve it, especially for energy-intensive firms. Because firms attempting to maintain lower GHG emissions are more likely to improve their productivity, there is a possibility that firms with high GHG emissions can also enhance economic performance by reducing their emissions in the long term, even if additional costs are incurred. In addition, better GHG emissions management increases the demand of environmentally conscious customers because a product's life cycle GHG emissions in the upper stream of the supply chain influence those in the lower stream, and customers evaluate the suppliers' GHG emissions management in terms of green supply-chain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We use dynamic panel regression analysis for 70 countries from 1965–2009. • We find that patent rights have no effect on productivity growth. • We offer an alternative explanation, finding the ECI positive and significant. • Our results lend evidence that patent rights are insufficient for the inducement of productivity. • We argue it is not discovery that increases productivity, but the ability to adapt. Abstract Does the rigorous protection of patents advance or retard economic development? Two decades ago, a new global standard of intellectual property swept across developing and industrialized nations through the implementation of the WTO's TRIPS Agreement. Many years later, the issue of patent rights remains contentious. In this paper, we focus on the effects of patent rights systems on total factor productivity growth, using dynamic panel regression analysis for 70 countries from 1965 to 2009. We show that the effects of stronger or more rigorous patent systems are insignificant for productivity growth in both developing and industrialized countries. Why does the strength of patents appear to have no impact on productivity? Classic economic theory suggests that stronger patent systems incentive innovative output with important spill-over effects for productivity and growth. We offer an alternative explanation using data from the Economic Complexity Index. We find that while patents rights are increasingly irrelevant to productivity, the relationship between economic complexity and productivity is highly positive and significant. Our results are consistent with the contributions of the absorptive capacity theory in that they suggest it is not the discovery and ownership of novel products and processes at the innovative frontier that induces productive growth, but the ability to adapt, replicate and diffuse along the international productive chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information and communication technology appears to have had a profound impact on language use in Japan. An important issue arising from this is said to be the increase in the use of Chinese characters (kanji) outside the official standard. This development has made a re-appraisal of the existing script policy necessary in order to accommodate the changes in kanji usage. To determine the nature and extent of the changes, it is necessary to compare the use of kanji in the information and communication technology era with that in the past. However, not many longitudinal surveys of texts have been done making it difficult to determine the extent to which kanji use has increased and deviated from the existing standard after the development of information and communication technology. This paper is based on a longitudinal study carried out to determine the changes in the proportions of kanji use during the information and communication technology era and before, with a special focus on the use of kanji outside the Joyo List (the current guide for kanji use in all public, non-specialist writing). The study examined the changes in kanji proportions by using topic-controlled news texts published in the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun from the 1940s to the 2000s. The study found that the proportion of non-Joyo kanji was minimal right across the period that was investigated and that it remained stable after the development of information and communication technology. The study also found that the proportions of general kanji used in the information and communication technology era was higher than that in the past. However, there were also some unexpected results. Kanji use at the end of the era was lower than what it was at the beginning. Also, apart from an increased use in the 1980s, kanji use remained fairly stable from the 1960s to the 2000s. Although the findings in the study are limited to news texts written about a particular topic, they were generally supported by past research based on other topics and other types of media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the applicability of a multi-sector business cycle model to the Japanese economy. Through dynamic factor analysis, output fluctuations are broken down into aggregate and sectoral shocks. It is shown that independent sectoral shocks are more significant than common shocks, which is consistent with the model proposed by Long and Plosser (1983). In addition, the paper reveals that the importance of aggregate shocks increased during the so-called "Bubble" period in the late 1980s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan has failed to escape from deflation despite an extraordinary monetary policy easing over the past 4 years. Monetary easing undoubtedly stimulated aggregate demand, leading to an improvement in the output gap. However, since the Phillips curve was almost flat, prices have hardly reacted at all. Against this background, the key question is why prices were so sticky. To examine this, we use sectoral price data for Japan and seven other countries including the USA, and use these data to compare the shape of the price change distribution across the eight countries. Our main finding is that Japan differs significantly from the other countries in that the mode of the distribution is very close to zero for Japan, while it is near 2% for other countries. This suggests that while in the USA and other countries the 'default' is for firms to raise prices by about 2% each year, in Japan the default is that, as a result of prolonged deflation, firms keep their prices unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second arrow of Abenomics is flexible fiscal policy. However, it does not mean just fiscal stimulus as the Abe administration decided on the fiscal consolidation target of achieving a primary surplus by fiscal year 2020. Improving the primary balance implies making government debt more sustainable. Although the consumption tax rate was raised from 5% to 8% in April 2014, the Abe administration has decided twice to postpone increasing the consumption tax from 8% to 10%. In addition, a fiscal stimulus package was implemented. We use a Fiscal Stance Index to examine fiscal policy from the viewpoint of fiscal sustainability and a Markov switching model to examine fiscal policy from the viewpoint of the fiscal theory of the price level, and find that the Abe's fiscal stance is not Ricardian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks back at the statistical problems on the relationship between the demographic and economic expansion of Japan. The data relating to the number of population cannot be used as it stands for measuring the population increase in Japan since the last century. During the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth centuries, neither the demographic, nor the political and economic expansion beyond national frontiers, were part of Japan's national program. There is no evidence pointing to a definite upward trend in population during that period. Population was kept down by rudimentary, but efficient and peaceful, checks. There are strong reasons, however, to believe that it was appreciably higher than suggested by official records. We know little of the trend of population in the decades preceding the Meiji restoration in 1868, but it follows that the increase in the nineteenth century was possibly less than commonly accepted hiherto. All the evidence points to a remarkable, but neither unique or inexplicable, increase of population since the Meiji restoration. The improvements made gradually in statistical recording, call, however, for extreme caution when endeavoring to measure and to explain this increase, at least as regards the earlier Meiji period.

This paper analyzes the Korean biotechnology sector with an analytical framework of National Innovation System (NIS). We examine whether newly industrializing economies (NIEs) can catch up with advanced economies in newly-emerging, knowledge-intensive industries such as biotechnology. We demonstrate that Korea is emerging as a key player in the global biotechnology scene in terms of R&D activities, catching up with other advanced countries, such as Japan, and keeping pace with regional competitors like Taiwan, Singapore and China. While the substantial increase in innovation capabilities lends support to the plausibility of the catching-up view, we also find that improvements and adaptations need to be made in transferring knowledge effectively from public to private sector and in commercializing biotechnology with the institutional support of private funding. Our study highlights the mechanisms by which collective competence of managing knowledge creation and diffusion is facilitated in a developing economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether political participation is positively related to economic equality is still a paradox. This paper explores the relations among political participation, economic equality, and economic development in Japan after World War II. There was little income bias in political participation in Japan during its period of rapid growth, partly because farmers who benefited inadequately from economic development participated more in politics. This rural bias in participation allowed significant redistribution of income from the urban to rural sector through the budgeting system, thus preventing the natural tendency of widening income inequality at the early stage of development. However, high rural participation did not undermine the rate of growth because it was supportive participation. Farmers overwhelmingly supported the incumbent Liberal Democratic Party, support that enhanced government's continuity and in turn nurtured growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the author's opinion on a study by Takatoshi Ito concerning the economies of Japan and East Asia. Economic difficulties faced by Japan; Factors that contribute to the economic development of Japan; Impact of industrial policy on Japanese economic development.

The article discusses the low inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in Japan after taking into account its size and geographical or cultural distance from potential investors. Topics discussed include an empirical assessment of the impact of Abenomics on Japan's ability to attract inward, the gains for Japan from investment in its sluggish service sector, and a disconnect between the conditions amenable to policy intervention.

The article discusses ways in which difficult changes in Eastern Europe have allowed Japan to become an economic power. Eastern Europe's financial crises have arisen due to troubles transitioning to free markets and capitalism. American policy makers who have acknowledged the financial problems of countries such as the Soviet Union or Germany have also realized they can implant Japanese money in the place of European money. In the same time that communism is on the verge of extinction as a viable species of government, Japan has undergone changes nearly as significant to international relations as those of the Soviet bloc. Advantages to Japan's economic involvement in Western markets are discussed.

Japan remains a developmental state where the state guides and oversees economic development, and the strong bureaucracy and businesses in turn complement each other in leading and shaping policies to achieve developmental goals. Japan retains the institutions deemed necessary to enhance the cooperative behaviour of the bureaucracy, businesses and politicians, and norms about what is important in order for an interventionist state to implement policies aimed at achieving economic development and the autonomy of the state. Externally, Japan has practised economic diplomacy with tools such as development assistance to achieve its economic security and to promote the developmental state model abroad. The process of making foreign policy contextualised and reinforced the norms, for both Japan's domestic and international audiences. Japan today tries to promote science and technology as a main catalyst for creating industries and supporting its domestic, export-oriented economy. This is based on Japan's own interpretation of its historical path and economic success and is also used to justify its engagement in the Arctic, a region where Japan does not have any sovereign territories. Japan's Arctic policy is as an extension of its economic diplomacy and an attempt to export the Japanese developmental state model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of late development is ubiquitous in political science. Scholars generally use the term to explain the state's role in the economy based upon the timing of a country's industrialization. Many consider Japan a quintessential example of state-driven late development. This article surveys the late development theories of Alexander Gerschenkron and Alice Amsden. It then appraises these theories based upon Japan's experience, demonstrating that neither accurately describes the state's role in Japan's industrialization. To be clear, the argument is not that the state played no part in Japan's economic development. The question is whether late development offers an effective conceptual tool for explaining the causes, content, and timing of state action. There are many possible explanations of Japan's industrialization. Late development is only one of them, and not a very good one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade policy, in particular, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), has been a centerpiece of the Abe administration's economic strategy. The TPP's contributions to Japan's growth strategy include: (i) creating trade and investment opportunities abroad for Japanese companies through ambitious liberalization targets; (ii) advancing domestic reforms - with the largest service and agricultural liberalization commitments to date; and (iii) increasing bargaining leverage in other trade negotiations. But the domestic reform goals of Abenomics in agriculture have come up short due to opposition from domestic lobbies. American trade politics - which culminated in the US withdrawal from the TPP - have upended the goals of trade policy under Abenomics. Japan's best option in this new environment is to deliver on high quality, multi-party trade agreements: concluding negotiations with Europe; scaling up the ambition of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership; and salvaging a TPP 11. The merits of a bilateral free trade agreement with the USA will depend on how the Trump administration operationalizes its America First policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a symbol of regulations as 'solid as bedrock,' Japanese agriculture is a key target for structural reform under the Abe administration's 'Abenomics' growth strategy. Its reform proposals have encompassed long-standing rice production regulations, agricultural organizations, including the agricultural cooperatives (JA), and the controlled system of milk distribution. The government also seeks to promote agricultural exports and farmers' participation in processing and distributing agricultural products. Led by the Prime Minister's Office, and taking advantage of changes in the political environment of agriculture that have weakened the political power of farmers and JA, the government has launched a reform offensive with variable impact: progress has been made in some areas (e.g. JA reform) but little change in others (such as rice production adjustment). The most significant challenge lies ahead in reforming the farmland system, which is yet to be tackled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan's outward direct investment ( ODI) began to show an obvious expansion since 2005, accompanied by a greater importance in East Asia and in the manufacturing sector. By analyzing the new wave of Japanese ODI, three points are elaborated in this article. First, the recent Japanese ODI did not result in the same industry to be passed from one country to another as elucidated in the flying geese model. Instead, Japan's ODI only promoted the regional divisional of labor in the transport equipment and electrical machinery industries. Second, this study advances the theory of vertical production network by exploring two regional production networks constructed by Japanese ODI, including one between China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong and the other between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN). Finally, since Japan's economy has been tightly connected with foreign demand via overseas production, this article argues that any sign of Japan's declining ODI will have serious impact to its domestic economic prosperity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large, extensively diversified pyramidal business groups of listed firms dominate the histories of developed economies and the economies of developing economies. While such groups (called zaibatsu in Japan) are thought to have provided coordination for big push growth successfully in pre-second-world-war Japan after a state-run big push failed, it is still being debated whether such a pyramidal business group driven big push coordination exists in developing countries elsewhere in Asia. We hypothesize that pyramidal business groups can be private-sector mechanisms for coordinating big push growth, provided that first, competition between rival groups induces a sufficiently high level of coordination efficiency, and second, conditions exist for maintaining economic openness and basic infrastructure and legal institutions. Another condition that must be satisfied for a country to sustain economic growth after its big push phase is complete is a timely demise of business groups. Where these criteria are not met, growth stalls and the few pyramidal business groups become too powerful to dislodge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer research has extensively analysed psychological determinants of customer satisfaction. As macro-level customer satisfaction data were not available until recently, researchers have only taken first steps towards analysing economic determinants of customer satisfaction. Based on a more complex conceptual framework and on data from Germany and Japan, this article examines how economic processes influence the perceived value of goods and services, quality expectations and customer satisfaction. Using principal component analysis, regression analysis and structural equation modelling, this study finds that perceived value is positively influenced by both economic growth and lagged economic expectations. Customer satisfaction is positively influenced by economic growth and negatively by current economic expectations, with half of the impact mediated by perceived value. Economic expectations positively influence expectations regarding the quality of goods and services. These results imply that consumer researchers should no longer ignore economic influences on consumer attitudes. Marketing managers are advised to be cautious not to misinterpret economic-induced variations in customer satisfaction as caused by corporate performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author provides an interpretation of the post-World War II economic “miracle” of Japan as a process of economic convergence within the framework of the neoclassical Solow—Swan model of economic growth. He shows how the predictions of the Solow—Swan model are qualitatively consistent with the actual economic record of Japan in the decades following World War II. The article is intended to help in the teaching of economic growth and the Japanese economic miracle, either as part of a macroeconomics course or in an advanced elective course in economic growth and development or in Japan's modern economic history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For much of the late twentieth century, the twenty-first was anticipated as the coming 'Asian Century'. Japan's economic woes and the broader financial crisis of 1997-98 put a dent in those expectations. The information revolution adds another complication; because of it, Asian economic development in this new century is likely to resemble a disorganised game of leapfrog. The information revolution makes 'leapfrogging' possible because it alters the conventional categories of 'developed', 'developing', and 'underdeveloped' nations. Rapid technological change can push yesterday's losers forward, and burden some more 'advanced' economies with the weight of yesterday's technological infrastructure. In social terms, a pernicious 'digital divide' is emerging. The significant growth in computer ownership and usage has been concentrated within certain income levels, educational backgrounds, demographic groups and geographical areas. This digital abyss is a daunting problem for India, China and Japan, despite their governments' continuing efforts to keep up with and exploit the opportunities offered by information technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to re-examine and cast doubt on the empirical relevancy of the Ranis-Fei model by scrutinizing the successful Japanese experience in the light of the estimates of capital stock and prices by Kazushi Ohkawa, M. Shinora, and M. Umemura. The major emphasis will lie in verifying the comparability of basic data for the two countries and in examining whether Japan actually experienced the alleged capital shallowing phase. The author also attempts to verify theoretical assumptions and arguments in the Fei-Ranis model as the rigidity of subsistence wage, powerful terms-of-trade effects, and the underemphasized role of international trade developed in Japan.