During the first and second weeks of February 2008, as a part of the member country energy policy review of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a visit for in-depth review was conducted for the EU committee, at which I was an expert from Japan. Based on the experience and observations of the...

Crude oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) temporarily fell to $10 a barrel, reflecting the Asian financial crisis that took place in 1997 and 1998, but global oil prices subsequently began to climb from around 2004, given rising demand from China, the disruption caused by...

This research paper provides an overview of Japan-China economic relations focusing primarily on Japanese companies' direct investments in China.<br/><br/>First, I will outline the chronological development of investment relations between Japan and China over the past 20 years. Historically, there have...

A so-called pro-patent policy has been globally adopted by an increasing number of countries since the 1980s and its use is spreading in Japan as well. However, the United States and European countries, who were the pioneers of the policy, have begun to reconsider it.Meanwhile, the paradigm of...

This paper introduces the details and characteristics of disclosures of crisis management scenarios and simulations of countries and regions based on some of the information collected in research activities for a project on constructing a new macroeconomic model and identifying the right...

This research analyzes local economic structures in an effort to establish a sustainable local economic system using the city of Kurashiki as a case study. The analysis of local economic structures was announced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2004, under the "Guideline...

In the Doha Development Agenda initiated in 2001, it was agreed to begin negotiations to clarify and improve the rules of the Word Trade Organization (WTO) on fisheries subsidies. Following the agreement, negotiations to prepare new rules for the subsidies are being conducted. This paper looks...

This paper presents estimates of long-term impacts from changes to the social security and tax systems on income distribution and economic growth in Japan. Different combinations of policies can have significantly different impacts on income distribution and economic growth. Corporate tax cuts...

With interest in consumer policy growing recently, need has arisen for interdisciplinary study of the existing literature in this area. This paper presents information for Japanese consumer policy discussions. It includes a survey of analyses, policy documents, and comments by consumer groups...

This paper will analyze the relationships between corporate and management activities and the product architecture of products manufactured by companies using the integral architecture indicator of products assembled or processed. This theory was developed in a joint discussion paper of the...