Fumitoshi Mizutani explains the main regulatory structure and regulatory reforms in eight Japanese public utility industries: electric power, gas utility, water supply, railway, local bus, postal service, telecommunications, and broadcasting

Due to the steady increase in the use of private autos in Japan, the bus business is facing hard times. In particular, bus services owned by public organizations have been struggling with increases in operating deficits and subsidies, so that recently in many cities there has been a call for...

Although it has for years had a lower unemployment rate than other industrialized countries, Japan has begun to see an increase in unemployment since its economy was hit by the recession of the late 90's. The level of a nation's unemployment is commonly seen as a barometer of its economy's...

The main purpose of this study is to determine whether public capital contributes to productivity growth and, if so, what kind of public capital contributes most. We analyze a dataset of 46 prefectures in Japan over 41 years, from 1955 to 1995, and estimate the production function as the...