We have analyzed the determinants of the Gini coefficient for income and expenditure. In both cases, we do not find support for the Kuznets inverted-U hypothesis. From economic globalization viewpoint, the opening of goods markets reduces income inequality both in the short run (the Gini...

The Amami Islands are located 380 kilometers southwest of Japan proper. These islands have two economic features: they are islands that many tourists visit because of their natural resources, and they are an undeveloped area where the central government of Japan provides large fiscal subsidies....

This paper investigates the impacts of the BSE and Bird Flu on consumersf meat demand in Japan using the Almost Ideal demand system. BSE and Bird Flu scares bring about a fall in demand for beef and chicken respectively, and an upturn in demand for pork and fishery products, both of which are...

Medical school usually has the highest tuition fees among the university departments. The reason why students pay such expensive fees is that they estimate that their earnings will greatly increase after graduation. We construct a model about student behavior on entering college and estimate the...

In this paper, we investigate the asymmetry of adjustment costs for labour. Using monthly data on Japanese industries, we estimate a model of dynamic labour demand that incorporates adjustment costs for hiring and firing workers, and for changing working hours. Our estimates suggest the...

We propose a method for decomposing interregional differentials in productivities based on the lifecycle permanent income hypothesis and conduct an empirical analysis using data from prefectural economic accounts in Japan to examine the effectiveness of this method.

Regional tourism policies in Japan have been undergoing major structural changes. We investigate the extent to which residents of the Amami Islands expect the municipality to take the initiative in implementing or financing tourism development policies. A binary choice approach is used to model...

Faced with an aging society and major earthquake risk in the near future, promoting the improvement of existing houses is one of the most important issues in Japan. In this paper, we formulate two types of demand models for home safety: a model for barrier-free conversion and a model for seismic...