Has Nguyen Phu Trong's Leadership Curbed Economic Reform? Economic Reform Trends in Vietnam

This paper argues how the features of Vietnam's political‐administrative system and their recent changes have affected economic reform, particularly reform of state‐owned enterprises. After the 12th Party Congress in 2016, the Party Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong's administration has seemed to exaggerate its conservative and totalitarian‐looking rule in the political arena. In contrast, the economic reform policies introduced by Trong's administration seem more transformative and progressive. This paper suggests that this contradiction must indicate changes in the policies relating to the state management of economic entities and/or a disguised form of reform to retain state influence over economic management, both of which tend to end up with pervasive rent‐seeking practices.     

A Bayesian Multivariate Risk-Neutral Method for Pricing Reverse Mortgages

In this article, we propose a Bayesian multivariate framework to price reverse mortgages that involve several risks in both insurance and financial sectors (e.g., mortality rates, interest rates, and house prices). Our method is a multivariate extension of the Bayesian risk-neutral method developed by Kogure and Kurachi. We apply the proposed method to Japanese data to examine the possibility for a successful introduction of reverse mortgages into Japan. The results suggest a promising future for this new market.     

日本快递业的发展动态研究

物流是连接供与需之间的纽带,是通过载体服务体系完成物在时空上的变化达到物流的目的,快递业作为传统物流的特殊形态,开发了小货物运输市场的潜在需求,并推动着产业经济结构的优化与调整。文中介绍了日本快递业的物流系统、经营战略、市场竞争体系,并对其发展趋势进行了分析,为中国快递业市场的快速发展提供参考。     

Identifying and bridging networks in regional clusters

Networks within an organization and also among organizations are expected to work as conduits of resources and knowledge for innovation. Previous papers have shown that dense networks are closely related with innovation performance. Tight relationships in a close knit group foment trust among actors in the network and therefore promote collaborations, and diverse connections with the others can open an opportunity for breakthrough. In this paper, we quantitatively evaluate the network structure of an industrial cluster and compare its results with that of a field study, and found that firms in the cluster do not regard it as dense, which means that there are opportunities even in the densest network. This is because it is not so easy to look for business partners beyond a company's current partnerships while tight communication exists among firms having partnerships. Therefore, we propose a system of finding a plausible business partner to span the current boundary and to support the networking.     

EVA AND SHAREHOLDER VALUE IN JAPAN

In a series of individual presentations and a follow-up set of exchanges, a group of academics and corporate practitioners discuss current problems with the Japanese corporate governance system and the potential role of EVA in addressing them. Professor Tak Wakasugi of Tokyo University identifies the problem as Japanese managers' devotion to "growth at all costs"-an approach encouraged by the illusion that equity capital is a "free and unlimited resource." Both Wakasugi and EVA advocate Joel Stern argue that adoption of the EVA performance measurement and incentive system would help impress upon Japanese managers the reality that capital is costly, but without causing them to cut back on promising investments (as would a single-minded focus on a rate-of-return measure like ROE).
In the three presentations that follow, Virgil Stephens, Toru Mochizuki, and Mark Newburg-the CFOs, respectively, of Eastman Chemical, Coca-Cola Japan, and NCR Japan- discuss the implementation and workings of EVA within their companies.     

Cost-effectiveness analysis of suvorexant for the treatment of Japanese elderly patients with chronic insomnia in a virtual cohort

Aims: This study assessed the cost-effectiveness of the orexin receptor antagonist suvorexant against zolpidem, the most widely used hypnotic benzodiazepine receptor agonist in Japan. To this end, a model was used that factored in insomnia and the risk for hip fractures, which have devastating effects on the elderly.

Methods: Data were derived from published papers. The target population was a virtual cohort of elderly patients (≥65 years) with insomnia residing in Japan. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio as effectiveness measures. The investigators assumed the perspective of healthcare payers.

Results: In the base-case analysis, suvorexant was cost-saving (suvorexant: $252.3, zolpidem: $328.7) and had higher QALYs gained (suvorexant: 0.0641, zolpidem: 0.0635) for elderly Japanese patients with insomnia compared with zolpidem, indicating that suvorexant was dominant. In the sensitivity analysis, the outcome changed from dominant to dominated due to the relative risk for hip fractures associated with suvorexant. However, when the other parameters were varied from the lower to the upper limits of their ranges, suvorexant remained dominant compared to zolpidem.

Limitations: The relative risk for hip fractures for suvorexant used in the model was based on data from pre-approval clinical trials. More precise data may be needed.

Conclusions: Suvorexant seemed to be more cost-effective than the alternative zolpidem. The findings suggested that suvorexant might be a viable alternative to zolpidem for elderly patients with insomnia. A sensitivity analysis showed that outcome varied depending on the relative risk for hip fractures associated with suvorexant. Further investigations may be needed for more precise results.     

Analyst coverage,executive compensation and corporate risk-taking: Evidence from property–casualty insurance firms

Using an exogenous drop in analyst coverage introduced by broker closures and mergers, we test for the causal impact of analyst coverage on corporate risk-taking, in an opaque industry. We document an increase in risk using several book-based and market-based risk measures, including tail and default risk measures. Results are driven by firms with stronger managerial risk-taking compensation incentives. The increase in risk is stronger in more opaque firms, and firms with weaker policyholder monitoring. Firm risk increases through at least one risk-taking action, such as investing firm assets in higher-risk bonds. Our study highlights the importance of stock analysts in affecting corporate risk-taking, especially in the presence of stronger managerial, compensation risk-taking incentives.