Asian Financial Crisis gave a devastating impact on East Asian countries, which had been enjoying good economic performance. As a result, there emerged various initiatives for monetary cooperation in order to avoid the next crisis in the region. However, there are pros and cons on the regional...

Since the revision of the Japanese immigration law in 1990, there has been a dramatic influx of the Latin American, mostly Brazilian, of Japanese origin (Nikkeijin) working in Japan because these people are now allowed to do whatever activities in Japan, including an unskilled work. In spite of...

This paper assesses the economic conditions for Asian countries to cope with the formation of EU and NAFTA. Is it desirable for them to form their own trading area? And, if desirable, is it better to have a closed one like the EAEC or a more open one like the APEC? Relying on public economics...

This paper studies the economic impact of regionalism under the realistic assumptions of constant tariffs and asymmetric bloc formation. As an extension of the Krugman framework, the impact is decomposed into several components, each of which has a clear economic implication. Economic...

The world has been increasingly interconnected both economically and politically ever since the end of the World War II. In addition to the increase in the movement of goods (international trade) and the movement of money (foreign investment), we have observed increased amount of movement of...

Although Japan is much richer than Latin America and income distribution in Japan generally is much more equitable than in Latin America, the Japanese gender gap is one of the worst in the world, much worse than that of many Latin American countries. Using various data, I have tried in the...

The world has been increasingly interconnected both economically and politically ever since the end of the World War II. In addition to the increase in the movement of goods (international trade) and the movement of money (foreign investment), we have observed increased amount of movement of...

This book is a concerted attempt by economists to investigate and offer remedies for some of the difficulties associated with an ageing labor market.