Rice productivity improvement in Cambodia through the application of technical recommendation in a farmer field school

Innovation in rice (Oryza sativa) productivity improvement is a major goal for rice research. However, many studies have tended to analyse the various factors that affect productivity separately, while farmers invest their scare resources in farm inputs that impact on multiple factors in the real farm. This study assessed the effectiveness of integrated pest management practised during farmer field school (FFS) training in Cambodia on the production efficiencies, yields and profitability of rice farming. In total, 270 FFSs on rice cultivated in the early wet, wet and dry seasons were randomly selected from three provinces in 3 years to analyse the production practices and productivity using six cost-related factors: seed, planting methods, field management, fertilizer use, pesticide application and harvesting. It was found that yields and profits were significantly higher with the technically recommended practices (TRs) than with traditional farmer practices (FPs). However, the reverse was true for production costs due to the overuse of seed and pesticides in FP, neither of which are correlated with yield increase for both FP and TR. Thus, the FFS approach is a knowledge-intensive field management tool that enables the rational use of farm inputs and that is expected to be highly effective for sustainable rice production improvement.     

Global early warning system for displaced persons: interlinkages of environment, development, peace and human rights

The work described here is based on the FUGI global modeling concept. Its development is termed the Global Early Warning System for Displaced Persons (GEWS). The paper explains 1) the scope and objectives of the current research: 2) the methodology employed; 3) the main features of the model; and 4) some case studies having to do with the Philippines and Thailand.     

Technology policy in Japan: A short review

This paper examines technology policy in Japan. Following a brief introduction, we review trends in Japanese technology policy: in the 1950's and through to the mid-1960's, the main policy concern was to facilitate the importation of technology. However, in the mid-1960's, the emphasis had shifted to promote domestic R & D, and various policy measures like tax breaks, subsidies and research contracts were employed to encourage R & D in private firms. In the 1970's, public policy became more selective, and R & D on pollution control, energy, space and ocean resources was encouraged. Currently, the policy discussion is centered around the problem of how to enhance Japan's technology base in basic technologies in order to promote a shift to high-technology production. The third section examines the various policy measures in detail; preferential tax treatment, subsidies, research contracts, low interest loans, public research institutions, public corporations, and research associations. It is argued that Japanese technology policy worked alongside market forces rather than replacing them with the political process. This approach was successful in the sense that it contributed to the promotion of technological progress and a high rate of economic growth. However, as the promotion of basic research becomes more important, a new approach must be devised. The brief concluding comments discuss current and future problems to be addressed by technology policy in Japan.     

Permanent income hypothesis: An optimal control theory approach to a classical macro thesis

This paper investigates the extent by which the permanent income hypothesis (the normal income and the proportionality hypotheses) can be obtained by the optimal control approach with an explicit recognition of individual's rational behavior over time.     

Current accounts of Japanese airports

The paper examines the current account of 41 major airports. When we exclude depreciation costs, only seven airports are profitable. When depreciation is excluded, only three airports are making profits. Airports managed by local governments are very difficult to sustain financially without subsidies. Airports with more than 5.2 million passengers are profitable when depreciation is taken into account, however most local airports have fewer than 2.5 million passengers. When depreciation costs are excluded, airports need at least 2.7 million passengers to be viable.     

A unifying impossibility theorem

This paper identifies and illuminates a common impossibility principle underlying a number of impossibility theorems in social choice. We consider social choice correspondences assigning a choice set to each non-empty subset of social alternatives. Three simple axioms are imposed as follows: unanimity, independence of preferences over infeasible alternatives, and choice consistency with respect to choices out of all possible alternatives. With more than three social alternatives and the universal preference domain, any social choice correspondence that satisfies our axioms is serially dictatorial. A number of known impossibility theorems—including Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem, the Muller–Satterthwaite Theorem, and the impossibility theorem under strategic candidacy—follow as corollaries.     

Accounting disclosure,corporate governance and the battle for markets: The case of trade negotiations between Japan and the U.S.

Developments in the socio-economic and political spheres impact upon accounting disclosure and corporate governance. In the context of globalisation, moves have been made ostensibly to converge practices towards global standards, which on the face of it equate to Anglo-American ways. Here, we focus on Japan in this context. We give particular attention to pressure apparently placed upon Japan by the U.S. vis-à-vis bilateral state-level trade negotiations – an under researched area – from the late 1980s. We critically interpret how the Japanese Government has responded to such apparent pressure.     

Management of rainfall-related environmental risks in urban area

Rainfall brings urban residents both benefits, such as water resources, but also adverse risks such as flooding. Additionally, it has been recognized that wet weather run-off discharges pollutants

and transfers chemicals and pathogen bacteria into the aquatic ecosystem. This causes not only deterioration of water quality but also environmental pollution risk. Both the flood risk and environmental pollution risk are treated here as ‘rainfall-related environmental risks’. Although these two kinds of risks are quite different in their characteristics, the main purpose of urban wet weather flow management is how to decrease these risks. Furthermore, these risks have a similar background which is concerned with both the urban structure and the life-style of urban residents. Recently, flood disaster has occurred in the Japanese urban area with increasing frequency causing damage due not only to rainfall intensity, but also the vulnerability of urban structures against heavy storms. Although there has been urban area expansion and a decline in substrate permeability, wet weather flow management in Japan is aimed simply to drain the increased run-off volume quickly. As for the management of hazardous chemicals which might be discharged together with rainfall run-off, this has not been implemented sufficiently. It is necessary to develop a methodology to reduce rainfall-related environmental risks in urban wet weather flow management. In this paper, the possible risk management process and control options of rainfall-related risks will be discussed after a summary of both the similar and differing points between inundation risk and environmental pollution risk. As a result, it is deemed necessary to operate a scheme to raise the rainfall-related environmental risk perception level of urban residents to ensure their participation in risk management.     

A dynamic strategy of the informed trader with market manipulation

This paper considers stock price manipulation by a dynamic informed trader. We provide a simple proof of the existence of manipulation in a market in a standard sequential trade model. We also give the lower bound of the number of trading periods for the existence of manipulation in equilibrium and show that if the number of trading periods is larger than that lower bound, every equilibrium involves stock price manipulation. Irrespective of the prior of the market maker, if the informed trading probability is high enough, every equilibrium involves manipulation.