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Due to the increasing threat of irreversible, dangerous global warming, effective climate policy is one of the most urgent political challenges. And as mitigation costs are going to increase even in the case of cost efficient measures, government action against global warming needs the sovereign's support. So what is the role of public participation in modern market-based climate policy? Public Choice theory has been analysing respective questions since the 1970s, mainly because economists' recommendations for expanding the use of economic incentives had been ignored in practice. However, recently carbon taxes and cap-and-trade have been spreading, raising questions on the validity of Public Choice arguments anew. Against this background, the paper summarizes the hypotheses of Public Choice theory regarding public participation in climate policy instrument choice, surveys respective empirical studies, and adds new case study data on carbon market decision making in Germany and Japan. It mainly argues that public opinion will play an increasingly important role in effective and efficient climate policy, that political support by citizens becomes most effective via environmental groups' activities, and that strengthening citizen participation calls for lowering information costs and for supporting the civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the processes by which children acquire pro-environmental behaviours in different cultures. Our focus was on parental influence. Several studies have been conducted on adults' environmental behaviours; however, we know little about how children's environmental attitudes and behaviours are formed. We conducted a questionnaire survey with elementary school children and one of their parents in Germany and Japan. Two hundred and twenty-one pairs participated in Germany and 365 in Japan. The results of structural equation modelling showed that parents' behaviours affected children's environmental behaviours directly and also via the subjective norm (the children's experienced expectations of their parents). A comparison of the two countries revealed that hypothesized cultural differences between the impact of personal norms and subjective norms were clearer for adults. The results also showed that the effects of subjective norms were stronger for children, indicating that children are more likely to be influenced by expectations of others. The results of the study suggest that for promoting children's environmental behaviours, showing the behaviours in daily life would be most effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the extent to which intraday price jumps and co-jumps in cryptocurrency markets stem from the release of macroeconomic news from the U.S., Germany and Japan. Using 5-min frequency prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum quoted against the U.S. dollar over the 2016–2019 period, we find that intraday price jumps are three times more frequent in Ethereum than in Bitcoin. More importantly, we show that jumps in Ethereum are more sensitive to macroeconomic news than jumps in Bitcoin, and that U.S. news releases exhibit higher influence on jumps in both cryptocurrencies than German and Japanese news announcements. We also find that co-jumps among Bitcoin and Ethereum are scarce and tend be associated only with a few U.S. news announcements, and in particular those related to the unemployment rate, new home sales, housing starts and Fed Beige Book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lean Manufacturing is a methodology that companies from different sectors have implemented for several years, which has given significant results. Although it is a methodology that has been implemented since the 70's, it is still in force despite the technological era that has been advancing in recent years. The different Industrial Revolutions have brought with them important advances in terms of technology, always seeking to make life easier for human beings. From Industry 3.0, where we begin to talk about technology and intelligent machines, it has sought to automate processes and replace handmade or manual production in companies. Therefore, one might think that just as companies must adapt to these new trends, methodologies, such as Lean Manufacturing, should also transition to automation or the use of technology for their application. If Industry 3.0 already showed important signs in the advancement of technology, with Industry 4.0 it was confirmed that this technology would be present in our daily lives and in the processes of companies. In fact, in developed countries such as Japan and Germany there is already widespread talk of Industry 5.0, an industry that seeks to return to the human being as an important part of industrial processes, which in Industries 3.0 and 4.0 had passed into the background to give way and greater importance to the use of technology. With the new industrial revolution (5.0) there is even talk of new technologies and tools for improving the production processes of companies. Companies seeking to adapt to the use of technology and seek to continue competing in the market and even seek a better position against the competition must make strong capital investments to acquire the technology necessary for their processes. And those decision-makers need to have a very broad picture and make sure that those investments work and have the expected results. One of the important tools in Industry 5.0 that can help in decision making is simulation. The simulation helps in visualizing how a process works without the need for it to be already implemented in a real way, that is, adjustments and improvements can be made without these implying a change or an investment in the real process. Therefore, we can have data that approximates the data that can throw us a process that is already working physically. If you are looking to analyze data from a process that is already physically implemented, simulation helps determine which part of the process requires improvement or change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research we tested the differential effects of anger versus shame as emotional predictors of ingroup disidentification in one rather collectivistic (Japan) and two rather individualistic societies (Germany, Canada). We tested the idea that individuals cope with socially undesired emotions by disidentifying from their group. Specifically, we predicted that after a group conflict, anger, an undesired emotion in Japan, would elicit disidentification in Japan, whereas shame, an undesired emotion in Canada and Germany, would elicit disidentification in Germany and Canada. Study 1 (N = 378) found that anger, but not shame, was related to disidentification in Japan, whereas shame, but not anger, was related to disidentification in Canada and Germany. Study 2 (N = 171) shows that, after group conflict, Japanese disidentified more when imagining to feel angry, whereas Germans disidentified more when imagining to feel ashamed. Implications for these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Individual investors are experiencing serious sentiment shifts that influence their financial activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic while socially responsible investment (SRI) has garnered attention worldwide. This study aims to explore how individual investors' sentiments and investment choices altered in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: We surveyed 1,219 individual investors in Japan, the USA and Germany using an online questionnaire and performed a cross-sectional analysis using logit and ordered logit regressions. Findings: This study found that individual investor sentiment affects SRI after COVID-19, but not necessarily in the same manner. Return-focused aspects negatively affect their SRI, while relationship-oriented social issues positively affect it. In addition, the relationship differs by nation. Japanese investors anticipate shorter term SRI returns than the US and German investors. Only Japanese investors' SRI decisions were impacted by the relationship-oriented social factors including the environment, diversity and employee rights and welfare. Research limitations/implications: This study emphasizes the need for precise motivation characterization when evaluating the same issue. The author also identified the variance and characteristics among countries, which differ from previous research. Practical implications: An academically credible image of the relationship will enable business managers to find appealing strategies. This study also suggests country-specific investor relations strategies. Originality/value: This study differentiates return- and relationship-oriented social motivations for SRI into 14 components, thus clarifying the relationship mechanism between the COVID-19 pandemic and individual investors' SRI behavior. Moreover, no study has compared individual investor sentiment and investment behavior affected by the pandemic in the three countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compared technical/vocational education in: Germany, Australia, Finland, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Nigeria, and found that technical/vocational education was given proper attention in countries considered except Nigeria, where it was handled with laissez faire attitude. Set-Up of Technical/Vocational Schooling, Curriculum, Mode of Training and Conduct of Final Examination, Financing and Motivating Factor was the basis for comparison, and Nigeria lagged behind in these. Amongst the lessons for Nigeria's technical/vocational education sector are that her technical/vocational education sector be dual, while students should be appropriately motivated. Schools should collaborate with registered organizations (work-integrated learning) to train the students. The paper recommended that there should be national conference strictly on the status of technical/vocational education in Nigeria, so that necessary solutions could be proffered to the problems facing this part of the education sector. Finally, manufacturing organizations, etc. should be involved in the drafting of curriculum of the technical/vocational education in the country, while taking into consideration peculiarities of Nigeria as a sovereign nation.

Copyright of China Textile Leader is the property of China Textile Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study examines how origami has been implemented, practised, and developed in the early childhood education of Japan over the past 140 years. Historically speaking, paper-folding has been part of Japanese symbolic art, craft culture, and religious ceremonial artefacts since paper and paper-folding techniques were first imported from China during the seventh century. By the eighteenth century, paper-folding provided a form of mass entertainment in Japanese society. During the 1870s, paper-folding was dramatically transformed into a pedagogical tool within Japanese kindergartens after Friedrich Froebel's (1782-1852) kindergarten system and its curriculum was transferred to Japan from the West. "Papier-Falten" ("paper-folding") comprised an element of Froebel's Occupations -- which was a series of handiwork activities -- in his kindergarten curriculum, whereby various folding techniques and models were derived from European traditional paper-folding and introduced into a Japanese kindergarten curriculum that was associated with the concept of Froebel's kindergarten. Particularly seen in early childhood education in Japan, what we now call "origami" developed as a new form of paper-folding. This gradually emerged through the marriage of Western (German) and Eastern (Japanese) paper-folding cultures. The study highlights the benefits and uniqueness of cultural transmission and transformation when developing origami in early childhood education in Japan.

Information communication and technology (ICT) has been used in various fields. The use of teleconference for teaching and learning activities is currently not a new topic in global world. In Indonesia, through IMHERE Program from Directorate of Higher Education, some universities have been connected with a network of teleconference as a medium of disseminate knowledge. However, when compare to university, the use of teleconference is not yet well-known in schools in Indonesia. This paper aims at presenting the experiences on the use of Teleconference as a medium of teaching secondary school pupils new information on different subjects they discovered in international learning environment. This activity is carried out by Indonesian students who study abroad e.g. students who study in Germany, Japan, Canada, Australia and USA. This paper will also analyse the feedback from the beneficiaries of the teleconference program, to gather opinion about the prospect, challenges in the administration, organisation, and the pedagogy implication of the use of information communication and technology in schools in Indonesia. The author will also give suggestions or recommendations on the best strategies of improving the use of information technology in schools. This is important to further promote and establish the e-Global-learning-system in Indonesia.

The article reports on the results of a study conducted by Thomson Reuters concerning the impact of research papers from China. The results found out that the research paper outputs from the country went high from 20,000 in 1998 to almost 112,000 in 2008. It mentions that China is now set to overtake the U.S. in research output within the next decade and has overtaken Great Britain, Germany and Japan in 2006.

Over the last five decades, there have been several phases of interest in the so-called hydrogen economy, stemming from the need for either energy security enhancement or climate change mitigation. None of these phases has been successful in terms of a major market development, mainly due to the lack of cost competitiveness and partially due to technology readiness challenges. Nevertheless, a new phase has begun very recently, which despite holding original objectives has the new motivation to be fully green, i.e. based on renewable energy. This new movement has already initiated bipartisan cooperation of some energy importing countries and those with abundant renewable energy resources and supporting infrastructure. One key challenge in this context is the diversity of pathways for the (national and international) export of non-electricity renewable energy. This poses another challenge, that is the need for an agnostic tool for comparing various supply chain pathways fairly while considering various techno-economic factors such as renewable energy sources, hydrogen production and conversion technologies, transport, and destination markets, along with all associated uncertainties. This paper addresses the above challenge by introducing a probabilistic decision analysis cycle methodology for evaluating various renewable energy supply chain pathways based on the hydrogen vector. The decision support tool is generic and can accommodate any kind of renewable chemical and fuel supply chain option. As a case study, we have investigated eight supply chain options composed of two electrolysers (alkaline and membrane) and four carrier options (compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia) for export from Australian ports to three destinations in Singapore, Japan, and Germany. The results clearly show the complexity of decision making induced by multiple factors, and that the preferred supply chain combination (electrolyser technology, green energy carrier) in terms of least cost strongly depends on whether the expected levelized cost of hydrogen (ELCOH) or the expected levelized cost of energy (ELCOE) is used as a decision criterion. For instance, with ELCOH for the case study, under the given input parameters, the Ammonia combination with alkaline electrolysers (AE-NH 3) becomes the least-cost supply chain option for Singapore, Japan, and Germany with values of 8.60, 8.78 and 9.63 $/kgH 2 , respectively. This leaves liquid hydrogen (with alkaline electrolysers) as the second-best supply chain route, with ELCOH values of 9.05, 9.39 and 10.70 $/kgH 2 , respectively. However, with ELCOE, methanol (with alkaline electrolysers) becomes the preferred supply chain path for all destinations, and liquid hydrogen (with alkaline electrolysers) keeps its place as the second-best alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides some concluding reflections on religious education and peace-making in different countries in East and West (Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Israel, Spain, Germany, USA), as discussed in the previous papers of this volume. I mention the changed nature of modern forms of violence and war, so that peace is no longer just an option in the contemporary world, but must be an imperative if the global community is to flourish. Reference is made to the Declaration Toward a Global Ethic (1993) and the Earth Charter (2000) as helpful instruments for developing peace education. The religions of the world possess considerable seeds for peace-making which religious education can use as resources for overcoming violence and promoting a culture of peace.

• In this scenario, states vulnerable to impacts of climate change deploy solar geoengineering; the article provides insights into possible responses of a Great Power Bloc (Member of UN Security Council + Japan and Germany). • We investigate the differences of possible responses; esp. with regard to challenges linked to a "free-driver" dynamic. • Varying assumptions about international relations in 2040 substantially shape the responses by the different groups (between hegemonic & non-aligned approaches). • We explore prospects of multilateral governance of solar geoengineering and point to questions about the functioning and cohesion of alliances. The paper examines a scenario exercise concerning deployment of solar geoengineering by a small group of states that are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Two groups of participants were each asked to provide expert decision-making advice to an alliance comprising great powers, and to propose a political response to the deployment initiative. This paper discusses the initial governance proposals and examines differences and exchanges between the groups throughout the exercise. The two groups delivered distinct governance proposals. The differences, which were driven largely by divergent worldviews and assumptions about the geopolitical context, provide insights into the complexities of responses to "free-driving" the deployment of solar geoengineering, internal functioning and cohesion of coalitions, and interactions among multiple responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of UNISCI Discussion Papers is the property of Unidad de Investigaciones Sobre Seguridad y Cooperacion International (UNISCI) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Only three days after the beginning of the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan, on 11 March 2011, the German government ordered 8 of the country''s 17 existing nuclear power plants (NPPs) to stop operating within a few days. In summer 2011 the government put forward a law – passed in parliament by a large majority – that calls for a complete nuclear phase-out by the end of 2022. These government actions were in contrast to its initial plans, laid out in fall 2010, to expand the lifetimes of the country''s NPPs. The immediate closure of 8 NPPs and the plans for a complete nuclear phase-out within little more than a decade, raised concerns about Germany''s ability to secure a stable supply of electricity. Some observers feared power supply shortages, increasing CO2-emissions and a need for Germany to become a net importer of electricity. Now – a little more than a year after the phase-out law entered into force – this paper examines these concerns using (a) recent statistical data on electricity production and demand in the first 15 months after the German government''s immediate reaction to the Fukushima accident and (b) reviews the most recent projections and scenarios by different stakeholders on how the German electricity system may develop until 2025, when NPPs will no longer be in operation. The paper finds that Germany has a realistic chance of fully replacing nuclear power with additional renewable electricity generation on an annual basis by 2025 or earlier, provided that several related challenges, e.g. expansion of the grids and provision of balancing power, can be solved successfully. Already in 2012 additional electricity generation from renewable energy sources in combination with a reduced domestic demand for electricity will likely fully compensate for the reduced power generation from the NPPs shut down in March 2011. If current political targets will be realised, Germany neither has to become a net electricity importer, nor will be unable to gradually reduce fossil fuel generated electricity. Whether the reduction in fossil fuel use will be sufficient to adequately contribute to national greenhouse gas mitigation targets significantly depends on an active policy to promote electricity savings, continuous efforts to increase the use of renewables and a higher share of natural gas (preferably used in combined heat and power plants) in fossil fuel power generation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Wind power generation in Japan is underdeveloped. Despite relatively good geographical and meteorological conditions, wind supplies less than 0.2% of the national electricity demand. Germany, in contrast, is able to provide over 6% of its electricity from wind power. This article will outline the main reasons for the marginal position of wind power in Japan by comparing and contrasting it with the political market for wind power in Germany. Using the concept of ‘Technological Innovation Systems’ (TIS), this paper will show how wind power has been impeded in Japan, but has been fostered in Germany, where policy designs and market mechanisms have produced positive feedback loops. Both technical problems and political inertia account for the modest growth of wind power in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is often blamed for not coming to terms with its own wartime past and for focusing solely on its role as a victim of the war. Germany, however, is often seen as the model that Japan has to emulate, having penitently accepted responsibility. Thus, in order to work out how these popular myths are being perpetuated, the media prove to be a good source of information, since they help to uphold memory and myth at the same time. In this paper, it will be examined how the 'memory' of the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima is being upheld in Japan and Germany − and what kinds of ' myths' are being created in the process. In focusing on two TV dramas, it shall be worked out to what extent Japan and Germany are represented as 'victims' and to what extent, if at all, the issue of war responsibility features in these dramas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the noticeable nervousness of many US-based financial statement issuers in adopting IFRS. For contextual purposes, the paper provides an overview of the FASB/IFRS convergence so far and its probable future. A detailed review of convergence in accounting standards is explained through the respective standards for "Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits". The paper concludes by suggesting that, while one set of global steps is a noble goal, it might not achieve the desired goal of comparability.

We study how subjects extrapolate simple patterns in financial time series in order to develop a descriptive model of actual agent behavior. The laboratory experiment for this analysis was conducted in Germany and Japan. Statistical analyses indicate considerable similarity in expectations formation across cultures and document that agents' expectations are at variance with the notion of standard trend extrapolation. The paper then proposes a method for computing expectations for any economic time series based on the experimental data. Such pattern-based expectations are shown to explain stock prices and the dynamics of the forward discount on the foreign exchange market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the development of employment-oriented family policy in Germany and Japan, two countries united by conservative welfare legacies and very low birthrates, through a close analysis of discourse. Why have recent reforms in Germany moved well beyond those in Japan despite remarkably similar “human capital” discourses? The relative strength of interpretative patterns—in this case, discursive patterns that successfully frame family policy reform as an economic imperative—and the role of employers are identified as critical explanatory factors. Further comparative attention is called to the role of the state as a guarantor of new family policy entitlements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Arbeit is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper compares exchange rate pass-through to aggregate prices in the US, Germany and Japan across a number of dimensions. Building on the empirical approaches in the recent literature, our contribution is to perform a thorough sensitivity analysis of pass-through estimates. We find that the econometric method, data frequency and variable proxy employed matter for the precision of details, yet they often agree on some general trends. Thus, pass-through to import prices has declined in the 1990s relative to the 1980s, pass-through to export prices remains country-specific and pass-through to consumer prices is nowadays negligible in all three economies we considered. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Takttime is a key element of lean manufacturing. This paper looks at how it evolved through World War Two Germany and Japan to become a cornerstone of today's Toyota Production System. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares bank regulation and supervision in Japan and Germany. We consider these countries because they both have bank-dominated financial systems and their banking systems are often lumped together as one model, yet, bank stability differs significantly. We show that Japan and Germany have chosen different approaches to bank regulation and supervision and ask why they made their choices. We argue that bank regulation and supervision were less efficient in Japan than in Germany and that these differences were decisive for bank behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to examine the importance of permanent and transitory shocks using a more efficient trend-cycle decomposition of the real exchange rate series. Our main contribution is that in measuring the impact of shocks, we not only impose common trend restrictions but also common cycle restrictions. We later confirm, through a post sample forecasting exercise, the efficiency gains from imposing common cycle restrictions. Our results indicate that permanent shocks are responsible for the bulk of the real exchange rate variations for Japan, Italy, Germany, France, and the UK vis-à-vis the US dollar over short horizons. For Canada, however, transitory shocks are dominant over the short horizon. In sum, while for Japan, France, and Italy, around 15% of the variation in real exchange rate is due to transitory shocks, for Canada, Germany and the UK, over 25% of the variations over the short horizon are due to transitory shocks. Thus, we claim that the role of transitory shocks should not be ignored. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on childlessness in Germany and Japan and its sociological meanings in family formation in postmodern societies. First, it shows the trends of fertility decline and increasing childlessness, and clarifies the similarities and differences in both countries, by comparing parity composition, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic correlates of childlessness. Second, using the data of attitudinal surveys, such as the 2003 Population Policy Acceptance Study (PPAS) in Germany and the 13th National Fertility Survey (JNFS; 2005) in Japan, the reasons for having no children are observed. Third, referring to the discussions of German scholars, it tries to explain the sociological meanings of childlessness and to describe the development toward a childless society (even if it's demographically not sustainable) as one of the possible consequences of the Second Demographic Transition. Important findings are as follows: (1) In Germany the fertility decline began early in the mid-1960s but in Japan later from mid-1970s so that the increase of childlessness has been a little delayed. The proportion of childless women in Western Germany increased to 28% for the 1967 cohort. In Japan, it has increased to 12.7% for the 1960 cohort, but is expected to reach 30% for the 1970 cohort. (2) The educational gap in childlessness is clearly observed in Germany; however, this is not so simple in Japan. Corresponding with the increase of childlessness, the desired number of children in average is declining. The emergence of a child-free culture is observed in Germany by PPAS, but not yet in Japan by JNFS. (3) Polarization may proceed further in both countries, between childless people and people with many children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manuscript Type: Conceptual Research Question/Issue: In this paper we address two research questions. First, to what extent has Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) developed unevenly across countries with different corporate governance systems and how might we explain this? Second, what consequences does its uneven development have for human resource management (HRM)? Research Findings/Insights: We map the nature and extent of SRI equities across five industrialized countries – Germany, Japan, the UK, the US and Australia. We find that differences between the institutional, corporate governance and cultural characteristics of national business systems explain variations in the size and significance of SRI across countries. We also find that SRI has an impact on HRM in institutional contexts such as where its influence is complemented by strong employee voice institutions. Theoretical/Academic Implications: The notion of “institutional complementarities,” within and across spheres of a corporate governance system is a useful theoretical lens for understanding the varied impact of SRI across different corporate governance systems. Further, future studies of HRM will need to consider the heterodox pressures produced by SRI that may influence its conduct. Practitioner/Policy Implications: Implications for SRI fund managers are considered, especially how they might use the notion of institutional complementarities to help in their investment decisions and in the impact they can exert. Specifically SRI funds are likely to be more effective where they can form alliances with other existing bodies or where they spur the development of such bodies. The implications for other actors in HRM and corporate governance are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional financial arrangements and monetary integration in East Asia and Europe have made considerable progress in recent years. This paper discusses whether governments in both regions, Japan and Germany as the most advanced regional economies in particular, can use the new dynamics as levers to raise their status vis-à-vis the United States. It will be argued that activities are defensive rather than offensive, aiming at protecting the respective region from financial risk. Japan, in particular, would find it difficult to raise its status vis-à-vis the United States significantly by promoting regional financial and monetary integration, principal reasons being actor heterogeneity, the role of China, hesitation to bear burden and risk, and the historical legacy of a bank-oriented system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the evolution of the photovoltaics industry in Australia, Germany and Japan taking a comparative perspective. A modification of the sectoral innovation system framework is used to discuss: knowledge and technologies, actors and interactions, institutions and funding, development of markets and technological structure, as a way to understand the changes. In the process of transition from niche to mass production, national players have specialised in different activities, and the institutions’ building block has been a key determinant. In the case of Australia, it is also the least developed area which ultimately exposes the country to losing its innovation benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the degree to which productivity adjusted deviations from PPP influence the U.S. inbound FDI. Our results show a significant negative relationship between productivity adjusted misalignments and the U.S. inbound FDI from Germany and the United Kingdom in the short-run, and a positive relationship in the long-run. Hence, indicating that a positive misalignment—undervalued U.S. dollar—leads to a decrease in the U.S. inbound FDI in the short-run and to an increase in the long-run. No significant evidence is found for Japan. Interestingly, unadjusted real exchange rate changes show no statistically significant relationship with respect to the U.S. inbound FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chief objective of this paper is to develop suggestions as to how to learn from best practices in HRM across national borders. The analysis is based on survey data gathered from 232 HRM managers from American, Japanese and German top 500 companies. The managers provide information on how the HRM model of their respective country is characterized and from which of the other two country models they seek inspiration. The concrete attributes of the models considered worth adopting are described in detail and future developments with regards to convergence of the HRM models explored. The empirical data suggest that HR managers from all three countries expect a partial convergence towards a hybrid model. Curiously, the model that comes closest to this hybrid - the German one - is also the one that rates lowest as a source of inspiration. An argument is made that in order to better understand learning from best practice and resulting convergence tendencies, research should seek more insights regarding the knowledge of managers about foreign management models, their perceptions of these models, and how these perceptions are generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A small but significant stream of research has emerged on how changes in corporate governance impact labour management, particularly in countries with stakeholder-oriented corporate governance. This paper briefly reviews existing empirical and theoretical literature on the links between corporate governance and labour management. Then it compares recent trends in Germany and Japan in terms of how changes in corporate governance affect the distribution of value-added, employment adjustment, pay systems and employee participation. Germany and Japan have proven able to adapt and modify their stakeholder model of employment and employee participation to changing circumstances. However, the size of the core model is getting smaller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper places the story of the overworked American in context by examining mismatches between preferred and actual work hours among Japanese, Swedish, West German, and U.S. workers. Although many full-timers in all four countries want to work fewer hours, mismatches come in many forms, and their distributions and determinants vary cross-nationally. The United States, for instance, has an unusually large number of full-time workers who want to work more hours, and a workforce that is especially motivated by opportunities for advancement and a desire for high incomes. Ultimately, the prevalence and determinants of hour mismatches are found to reflect cross-national differences in social, political, and economic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a simple vector autoregressions (VAR) model with (real) output and exchange rate shock on interest rates. Rather than assuming non-recursive identification schemes, we test the identifying assumption of the error term decompositions. Applying the model to quarterly data on major currencies against the U.S. dollar (USD) from 1974 to 1997, interest rate shocks explain--after 3 years--16% of Canadian dollar/USD (CAD) real exchange rate variations and less than 2% for the mark/USD and yen/USD. Positive innovations of interest rates bring about (transitory) CAD real appreciations in differences and (permanent) appreciations in levels. Canadian real output is more explained by domestic interest rate shocks (19%) than Germany's (5) or Japan's (0.2%). Canada is smaller than the other economies and CAD has been shown to suffer from "fear of floating". Our findings support the proposition that domestic output variance under fixed exchange rates. They are also consistent with structural interpretations of the VAR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether long-run integration between the United States and many international stock markets has strengthened over time, with special attention paid to the impact of the abolition of capital control in these markets and the 1987 international stock market crash. The results show that during most of the thirty-two-year sample period (January 1970-December 2001), there exists no long-run relationship between most of these markets and the United States. However, there is evidence of recent increasing integration between many smaller markets and the United States while no such pattern emerges for larger markets including Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany, which suggests long-run benefits to U. S. investors of diversifying into these larger markets. Moreover, there is no marked change in the degree of integration between any of these stock markets and the United States that can be apparently associated with the abolition of capital control or the 1987 international stock market crash. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The welfare state in industrialised countries is being challenged by a number of developments: the globalisation or internationalisation of the economy, changing demographics, a transformation from industrial to post-industrial economies, as well as social and cultural changes. Although all of these variables are important, this paper addresses only the effects of globalisation on social policy arrangements in the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and the USA. The starting point of the paper is the hypothesis that the specific perception of globalisation and the constructed links to so. cial policy arrangements within the political discourse must be taken into account when analyzing the effects of globalisation. Furthermore, it is argued that focusing solely on the state's activity within the realm of social policy might lead to distorted and misleading results. Finally, the different dynamics of welfare systems in the era of globalisation are discussed in a broader theoretical framework. It is argued that the concept of path dependency underestimates the changes that have taken place in the German, Japanese, and USA-American welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper appraises the in-sample and out-of-sample adequacy of linear AR and nonlinear SETAR models of unemployment rates for Germany, Japan, the UK and the US. Tests are reported for the presence and specification of threshold nonlinearities, SETAR model estimates, limiting dynamic properties and residual diagnostics, and out-of-sample forecasting performance. In-sample, threshold non-linearities are confirmed to be strongly present for the UK, US and Germany, and more marginally so for Japan. Out-of-sample, excepting Japan, SETAR models provide superior onestep-ahead forecast on RMSE grounds, most notably for the US. Final tests indicate that these models exhibit predictive accuracy in the sense of parameter and residual variance stability, implying the potential for exploitation of such nonlinearity in official forecasting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Abstract In the photovoltaic (PV) industrial chain, polysilicon is the most vital product affecting the scale of the entire industry. Polysilicon trade holds the highest profit margin, and the technological developments among countries is unbalanced, promoting international trade among countries. Therefore, analysis of the international polysilicon trade is crucial for understanding the development of the global PV industry. In this paper, we use a social network analysis (SNA) method to study the structure of the global polysilicon trade network and each country's characteristics in the network based on international trade data from 2006 to 2016. Our results show that the network is very concentrated and shows an obvious core-periphery structure. The United States of America (USA), China, Germany and Japan are the most powerful countries in the trade network. We also find that the development of polysilicon trade can represent progress of the PV industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open access mega journals represent an increasingly important part of the scholarly communications. The current research aims to introduce eight international mega journals and to investigate their performance in a five-year time span (2012-2016). The current study is an applied research in terms of objectives while it is a descriptive study in terms of data analysis and conducted using scientometric indicators. Research population comprised of 195011 articles published in eight mega journals during 2012-2016 and indexed by the Web of Science. Data was collected using three products of the Clarivate Analytics, namely Web of Science, Journal Citation Reports as well as InCites. Data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel. Results of the study showed 101% growth in 2016 compared to 2012 with regard to publications in eight studied mega journals. A total of 195011 articles have been published in eight mega journals during 2012-2016. Considering article processing fees of each journal, we can assume that roughly 300 million USD has been charged by eight mega journals. Papers published in mega journals were found to have higher citation impact compared with the average of the Web of Science database. Results revealed that two mega journals, namely PLoS One and Scientific Reports, were accountable for 91.6% of total publications and 96.1% of total citations. The highest share of publications in eight mega journals was found to be in the following research categories: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Multidisciplinary Sciences, Neurosciences, Oncology and Immunology. Moreover, the US, China, the UK, Germany and Japan had the highest number of publications in eight studied mega journals. Reputable publishers have identified a market demand for publication of scholarly output and are offering their services using open access mega journals. The mega journal market seems likely to keep increasing in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]