This paper analyzes the impact of firm networks on Japan's national border effect. We estimate gravity equations using data on Japan's international and interregional trade in four machinery industries (electrical, general, precision and transportation machinery). The machinery sector is the...

In a country such as China, which maintains strict controls on foreign exchange and frequently intervenes in the currency market, it is not surprising that the local currency is persistently undervalued in nominal terms. Normally, one would expect such a policy of deliberate currency...

Studies comparing regional income in Japan before and after World War II have frequently drawn a picture of radical change from an economy characterized by large regional disparities to one characterized by small regional disparities. This paper comes to a very different conclusion. Based on...

Using micro data of Japanese banks and borrower firms, we construct an index measure that quantitatively describes the monitoring activities of Japanese banks. We examine the effects of bank monitoring on the profitability of borrower firms. We find significant positive effects in the periods...

The 1990s have been a decade of minimal growth for the Japanese economy. Examining this record from a growth accounting perspective, this paper argues that a major factor underlying Japan's disappointing growth performance in recent years has been a marked slow-down in total factor productivity...

Distinguishing between vertical and horizontal foreign direct investment (FDI), this paper examines how the location determinants of the two types of FDI differ. Based on a conditional logit model and data on Japanese foreign affiliates, the main findings are that the most important determinant...