This paper examined the determinants of the backward vertical linkages of Japanese foreign affiliates in manufacturing for the period 1994-2000, focusing on the local backward linkages, or local procurements. We found that the experience of the affiliate, which is measured by the length of...

This paper asks two questions. 1) Do multinational enterprises (MNEs) present different patterns of employment from domestic firms? 2) Do workers in MNEs face a higher risk of losing jobs? We distinguish two types of MNEs (i.e., Japanese MNEs and foreign-owned firms) and utilize firm-level data...

Authors analyze the pattern of intrafirm transfer of management technology from Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) to their overseas affiliates by using firm-level micro data and discern the determinants of the extent of technology transfer achieved. Defining intrafirm transfer of...

This paper examines the role of multinational firms in international trade, using firm-level panel data for Japanese firms between 1994 and 2000. Our results indicate that multinational firms dominate Japanese trade. In 2000, only 13.8 percent of Japanese firms were multinationals but they...

This study is a first attempt of shedding a light on market dynamics in Japanese retail industry at establishment level using micro dataset from census survey. Entry and exit of establishment and its impact on productivity is investigated by using Retail and Wholesale Census by METI in 1997 and...

The issue on the growth and its variation of intra-firm trade of intermediate inputs is of great interest in international economics. This paper examines the determinants of intra-firm trade by shedding light not only on factor price and trade cost but also on the organizational form in terms of...

This paper examines whether there is any link between export openness and the temporary workers ratio at firms. First, we investigate the effect of export openness on sales volatility using Japanese firm-level data. Next, we examine whether firms will increase the number of temporary workers as...

During the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese manufacturers began to relocate production from sites in Japan to low-wage East Asian countries such as China, Malaysia and Thailand. Imports of manufacturing goods increased substantially over the same period. This rapid rise in imports, and proliferation of...

This paper pinpoints the impact of Japanese electronic machinery FDIs on productivity at home. Our analysis is based on the activity level of firms and not on their ready-made level. For example, if a firm has more than two kinds of activities such as upstream activity and downstream activity,...

In this paper, we estimate the consumer benefits of competition in the retail industry. In our analysis, we incorporated the service quality of retail outlets as outputs. In Japan, in the process of the deregulation of entry restriction on large-scale retail stores, specialty supermarkets have...