From 1998-2001, the Japanese government, in an effort to stimulate the flow of funds to the small business sector, implemented a massive credit guarantee program that was unprecedented in both scale and scope. Because the program was accessible by nearly every small firm we are able to clearly...

We investigate the motives and consequences of the consolidation of cooperative banks (Shinkin) in Japan during the period 1984-2002. Our major findings are as follows. First, less profitable and less cost efficient banks are more likely to be an acquirer and a target, though even less...

This paper investigates the role of collateral and personal guarantees in small business lending using the unique data set of Japan's small business loan market. Consistent with conventional theory, collateral is more likely to be pledged by riskier borrowers, implying they may be useful in...

In this paper we examine the determinants of the relationship between trade credit and bank loans. Previous studies of this relationship fall into two categories: (1) those emphasizing the difference between financial and non-financial institutions, and (2) those emphasizing the difference...

In this paper we revisit the relationship between the forward interest rate and the spot interest rate at the shortest maturities. We introduce a new set of very short forward and spot interest rates that have not been fully utilized in the literature: the "tomorrow next" rate and the "spot...

This paper studies the dynamic behavior of the general price level when the natural rate of interest declines substantially. Particular attention is paid to two constraints: the non-negativity constraint of nominal interest rates, and the government's intertemporal budget constraint. In a normal...

We characterize monetary and fiscal policy rules to implement optimal responses to a substantial decline in the natural rate of interest, and compare them with policy decisions made by the Japanese central bank and government in 1999-2004. First, we find that the Bank of Japan's policy...

This paper examines how firm practices that could contribute to worker attainment of work-life balance (WLB) affect the total factor productivity (TFP) of a firm, by using panel data of Japanese firms from the 1990s. We observed a positive correlation between the WLB practices and TFP among...

We examine the impact of the strength of host countries' university research and university-industry collaboration on the propensity of Japanese multinational firms to conduct research and development (R&D) activities in these countries. We consider heterogeneous effects based on the type of R&D...

This paper investigates how the Asian Monetary Unit (AMU) Deviation Indicators for surveillance measurements among East Asian currencies are improved by changing their benchmark rates from the constant rates in 2000-2001 to time-varying rates based on their purchasing power parities (PPPs). The...