Using firm-level data for the Japanese manufacturing sector, we examine characteristics of internationalized firms, i.e., firms engaging in export and/or foreign direct investment (FDI), and compare these characteristics with those for selected European countries. We find that internationalized...

In this paper we compare sources of economic growth in Japan and the United States from 1973 through 2000, focusing on the role of information technology (IT). We have adjusted Japanese data to conform to U.S. definitions in order to provide a rigorous comparison between the two economies. The...

This study is a first attempt of shedding a light on market dynamics in Japanese retail industry at establishment level using micro dataset from census survey. Entry and exit of establishment and its impact on productivity is investigated by using Retail and Wholesale Census by METI in 1997 and...

In this paper, we investigate the gap between the first target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the actual allocation of grant aid in the late-1990s and the early-2000s in order to identify necessary policy adjustments to achieve the goal. As a theoretical framework, we extend the...

This paper summarizes main descriptive results from the survey on a wide range of offshore outsourcing and R&D. This survey covers more than five thousand large-sized firms across all manufacturing industries in Japan. The principal findings are as follows. Merely 21% of the firms are...

Using the recently released EU KLEMS Database (March 2007) and other statistics, we examined whether Japan experienced similar problem as the major EU economies with regard to the introduction of ICT to market services. The major results obtained through our analysis are follows: 1. It is not...

Cross shareholding that makes takeovers difficult is not necessarily harmful to shareholders due to initiative effects. As long as manager's private benefits are to some extent in line with shareholders' benefits, cross shareholding may benefit shareholders. Cross shareholding is more likely to...

We investigate the motives and consequences of the consolidation of cooperative banks (Shinkin) in Japan during the period 1984-2002. Our major findings are as follows. First, less profitable and less cost efficient banks are more likely to be an acquirer and a target, though even less...

Using a dynamic general equilibrium model of firm dynamics that incorporates financial intermediation costs, we quantify the degree to which the deterioration in the health of banks during the Japanese banking crisis had an impact on aggregate productivity through firm dynamics. We find that the...

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, it examines the trend and nature of East Asian trade. The United Nations BEC classification is utilized to categorize total trade into trade in semi-finished goods, trade in components and parts, trade in capital goods as well as trade in final...