This paper examines the ex-post performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that obtained small business credit scoring (SBCS) loans. Using a unique Japanese firm-bank matched dataset, we identify whether an SME has obtained an SBCS loan and, if so, from which type of bank: a...

This paper summarizes the results of two questionnaires presented to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) by RIETI in February 2008 and February 2009. Given the limited data on SMEs, the purpose of the questionnaires is to understand the current status of financing for SMEs facing this...

Both global and regional economic linkages have strengthened substantially over the past quarter century. We employ a dynamic factor model to analyze the implications of these linkages for the evolution of global and regional business cycles. Our model allows us to assess the roles played by the...

Although greater longevity is coupled with a lower birthrate as one of the major causes of Japan's aging population, when it comes to factors influencing pension financing, longevity has not attracted as much attention as the birthrate. This paper quantitatively evaluates the impact of greater...

As a result of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's 2004 Actuarial Valuation of Public Pension Plans and its provisional estimates released in February 2007 it became widely recognized that the stability of pension finance was heavily dependent not only on population decline but also on...

In this paper we discuss the impact of potential proposed revisions to the survivors' pension system on the stability of pension finance and on intergenerational and intragenerational equitability. The three proposals we study are: (1) the proposal that the survivors' pension benefit be reduced...

This paper looks into the intermingling of the self insurance and public assistance principles in Japan's government-sponsored pension system that has been eroding public trust in the system. Using a newly developed pension funding model (the RIETI model), we analyze options for reforms...

This paper studies the short-term and long-term effects of tax policy changes on the Japanese economy by using a small open economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model with endogenous stochastic trends. The parameters of the model are estimated by a usual Bayesian method based on...

This paper discusses factors that relate to the age of valid standards. Unlike patents and copyrights, standards are created without a fixed effective time set by law. A linked dataset is first prepared by connecting the technology categories of the Japanese Industrial Standards—the de jure...

This study investigates the effect of a negative demand shock on the composition of the type of workers at firms, focusing on the change in the share of temporary agency in all workers. To clearly identify the causal link between the demand a firm faces and the composition of its workforce in...