A Spatial Structural Decomposition Analysis of Chinese and Japanese Energy Demand: 1985–1990

This paper proposes a spatial structural decomposition analysis to measure the effects of the changes in intra- and inter-country linkages on the embodied energy demand in the concerned country. For the empirical analysis, we have used the China- Japan inter-country input–output tables for 1985 and 1990, expressed in constant prices of 1990. The empirical results reveal that (1) at least for the period between 1985 and 1990, the effects of the non-competitive input structural changes in China on the primary energy requirements of Japan were negligible, and (2) the contribution of the Japanese final demand shifts on the total change in Chinese primary energy demand was 40 times larger than that of the Chinese final demand shifts on the primary energy requirements of Japan. The Japanese policy makers should concentrate on the energy impacts of the changes in the domestic production structure rather than the changes in the Chinese production structure.     

Determinants of Indonesian rural secondary school enrolment: gender,neighbourhood and school characteristics

In recent years the school enrolment rates of children aged 13–15 and 16–18 years have increased sharply in Indonesia, not only in urban but also in rural areas. Using various data sets spanning the years from 1993 to 2007, this paper investigates changes in factors associated with the enrolment of secondary school aged children in rural areas. It sheds light on the roles of gender and of neighbourhood and school characteristics, which have rarely been examined in the Indonesian context. The study finds that the disappearance of a gender gap in secondary enrolments between 1993 and 2007 contributed significantly to the rise in the overall enrolment rate. The findings also show that children living in wealthier communities and communities with a high proportion of enrolled children are more likely to attend school. Finally, various school characteristics are shown not to be strongly or consistently correlated with school enrolment.     

The Asymptotic Expansion Approach to the Valuation of Interest Rate Contingent Claims

We propose a new methodology for the valuation problem of financial contingent claims when the underlying asset prices follow a general class of continuous Itô processes. Our method can be applied to a wide range of valuation problems including complicated contingent claims associated with the term structure of interest rates. We illustrate our method by giving two examples: the valuation problems of swaptions and average (Asian) options for interest rates. Our method gives some explicit formulas for solutions, which are sufficiently numerically accurate for practical purposes in most cases. The continuous stochastic processes for spot interest rates and forward interest rates are not necessarily Markovian nor diffusion processes in the usual sense; nevertheless our approach can be rigorously justified by the Malliavin–Watanabe Calculus in stochastic analysis.     

A Remark on a Singular Perturbation Method for Option Pricing Under a Stochastic Volatility Model

This paper studies the approximation accuracy of a singular perturbation method for option pricing up to the second order under a stochastic volatility model. First, numerical experiments confirm that the first order approximation provides sufficiently accurate option prices in a fast mean-reversion volatility case. On the other hand, it creates relatively large errors in a non-fast mean-reversion volatility environment. Then, the second order approximation formula is derived and the improvement of the approximation is investigated.     

Cross-linguistic validation of a unidimensional scale for cosmopolitanism

Consumers' positive dispositions relating to foreign countries, cultures, and products are an important yet under-researched topic, compared against the volume of research on consumers' negative dispositions towards the same. Cosmopolitanism, conceptualized as a general dispositional orientation reflecting an affinity for cultural diversity and the proclivity to master it, garners increasing attention as a variable for international market segmentation. Empirical studies on cosmopolitanism are scarce, principally due to the absence of scale demonstrating sufficient cross-cultural validity across languages. This research reports on such a validation, across four countries and five languages. Psychometric evaluations entailed a number of techniques, including multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. The results largely confirm the cross-lingual applicability of the cosmopolitanism scale.     

Beyond Brenner's investment overhang hypothesis: the case of the steel industry

This article challenges the way liberal economic governance has come to be theorised as a passive and depoliticised form of governance. Using the classic case of the gold standard, it shows how state intervention came to be shaped by considerations of state power and diverged considerably from the traditional emphasis on free markets and stable conditions of investments. As I argue, the gold standard was constructed through political struggles over monetary governance which involved significant constraints for capitalist investors. Its institutions helped establish a new structure for exerting control over finance. By resituating the gold standard in a broader historical perspective, I show how nineteenth-century monetary governance, far from leading to a retreat of the state, established in fact the foundations of a new form of state intervention: modern central banking.     

An Asymptotic Expansion Approach to Pricing Financial Contingent Claims

We propose a new methodology for the valuation problem of financial contingent claims when the underlying asset prices follow a general class of continuous Itô processes. Our method can be applicable to a wide range of valuation problems including contingent claims associated with stocks, foreign exchange rates, the term structure of interest rates, and even their combinations. We illustrate our method by discussing the Black-Scholes economy when the underlying asset prices follow the continuous diffusion processes, which are not necessarily time-homogeneous. The standard Black-Scholes model on stocks and the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross model on the spot interest rate are simple examples. Then we shall give a series of examples on the valuation formulae including plain vanilla options, average options, and other contingent claims. We shall also give some numerical evidence of the accuracy of the approximations we have obtained for practical purposes. Our approach can be rigorously justified by an infinite dimensional mathematics, the Malliavin-Watanabe-Yoshida theory recently developed in stochastic analysis.     

Is protection really for sale? A survey and directions for future research

This paper critically and selectively surveys the literature on protection for sale and discusses directions for future research in this area. It suggests that the standard approach needs to be augmented to provide more compelling tests of this model.     

The distributional effect of the rice policy in Japan, 1986–2010

This study aims to evaluate the distributional effect of the governmental rice policy in Japan on producers, consumers, and government expenditures from 1986 to 2010 using a partial equilibrium model. Policy measures include government purchase of rice, output payment, and acreage control. The simulation result shows that acreage control has been the principal policy measure for transferring income to producers, especially since the enforcement of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. Acreage control is the policy measure with the lowest total efficiency and highest budgetary efficiency. This result implies that the government’s goal of transferring income to producers with minimum government cost has been achieved through a combination of policy measures.