Acknowledgements -- Introduction / Stephanie Assmann -- Challenges in rural areas -- Social sustainability in post-3.11 coastal Japan : the significance of social capital / ALYNE E. DELANEY -- Local schools in remote areas : challenges for youth, parents and community / JOHANNES WILHELM -- The...

This book, based on economics and game theory, analyzes the changes that Japan is now facing as a reflection of changes in Japanese families and society. The author presents a simple framework for the structural relationship among markets, communities including families, and the state; and uses...

While the first half of the 20th century was characterized by total war, the second half witnessed, at least in the Western world, a massive expansion of the modern welfare state. A growing share of the population was covered by ever more generous systems of social protection that dramatically...