Japan is the leading supplier of sophisticated capital goods to East Asian countries. These goods embody advanced technologies and facilitate learning and productivity growth. Capital goods also represent 30%-40% of Japan's exports. This paper investigates the determinants of these exports....

In this paper, we investigate why information and communication technology (ICT) investment in Japan has stagnated since the 1990s. Given that a notable characteristic of Japan's economy is that small as well as older firms play a much greater role than in other economies, particularly that of...

This paper aims to explain why housing investment in Japan stagnated in the 2000s. Housing investment consists of two parts: replacement and a net increase of housing stock, which can be further decomposed into changes in the number of households and the housing utilization rate. Using the...

China runs surpluses of $400 billion-$500 billion in processing trade. In value-added terms, East Asia as a whole runs surpluses in processing trade with the West. This generates appreciation pressures on exchange rates throughout the region. Using data up to 2012, this paper reports that a...

This paper investigates the influence of international investment agreements (IIAs) on the actions of multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the social welfare of host countries according to the market structure in the host country. In cases where MNEs are monopolies and duopolies, IIAs promote...

The Information Technology Agreement (ITA), enacted in 1997 as one of a few World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements realized after the Uruguay Round, lifted tariffs on a broad range of IT products such as telecommunication equipment and computers. As part of the General Agreement on Tariffs...

This paper presents an alternative approach to measuring the values of transport time for freight transportation, and examines its applicability through empirical analysis. We develop a model of the freight transportation market, in which carriers incur the cost associated with the effort to...

After the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, government investment in the disaster stricken areas was provided for reconstruction of capital stock damaged, and dynamic analysis is needed to reveal the long-term effects of investment. On the other hand, government investment for reconstruction...

Using survey data of licensing activities of Japanese firms, this paper studies the interaction between patenting and multiple contracting and their effects on license revenues for large and small licensors. We find that small firms are more likely to license their technologies to multiple...

This paper analyzes the role of university research in industrial innovation by different phases of the technology life cycle (TLC) and by patent analysis of solar cell technology. It is found that, in the early phase of TLC, the role of academic research is to broaden the technology scope to...