Climate Change Taxes and Energy Efficiency in Japan

In 2003 Japan proposed a Climate Change Tax to reduce its CO₂ emissions to the level required by the Kyoto Protocol. If implemented, the tax would be levied on fossil fuel use and the revenue distributed to encourage the purchase of energy efficient equipment. Analysis using the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model shows that this policy is unlikely to bring Japan into compliance with its Kyoto target unless the subsidy encourages improvement in energy intensity well beyond Japan’s recent historical experience. Similar demand-management programs in the US, where there has been extensive experience, have not been nearly as effective as they would need to be to achieve energy efficiency goals of the proposal. The Tax proposal also calls for limits on international emission trading. We find that this limit substantially affects costs of compliance. The welfare loss with full emissions trading is 1/6 that when Japan meets its target though domestic actions only, the carbon price is lower, and there is a smaller loss of energy-intensive exports. Japan can achieve substantial savings from emissions trading even under cases where, for example, the full amount of the Russian allowance is not available in international markets.     

Economic Impacts of Improved Connectivity for ASEAN: An Application of the Geographical Simulation Model

We compare the prioritized projects of the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) and the Comprehensive Asia Development Plan (CADP) by utilizing the Institute of Developing Economies/Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia Geographical Simulation Model. The prioritized projects of the MPAC mainly focus on specific hard or soft infrastructure projects connecting one remote area of an ASEAN member state to another and thus fail to capture the full potential of the infrastructure because of neglected important links within a state. On the other hand, the CADP emphasizes the importance of economic corridors or linkages between a large cluster and another cluster. Our simulation analysis shows that CADP projects will result in an addition to gross domestic product (GDP) of $US 1544bn over the period from 2021 to 2030 (in 2010 dollars) or an impact on ASEAN countries that is 12 times larger than MPAC projects. The results strongly suggest that the CADP projects should be adopted and implemented to fully realize the potential economic growth of the ASEAN countries. Moreover, the CADP will contribute more to narrowing the development gaps among the ASEAN countries than MPAC prioritized projects.     

Inclusive wealth with a changing but aging population

We consider the effect of population age distribution in inclusive wealth accounting. Numerical results demonstrate that the wealth of nations with an aging demographic structure, as well as those with a rapidly increasing working-age generation, may have been overestimated.     

The Substitution Effect of Mobile Games on Console Games: An Empirical Analysis of the Japanese Video Game Industry

In this paper, we discuss the substitution effects between mobile games and console games. We estimate such effects by a fixed-effect regression with instrumental variables using panel data of about 100,000 observations. The results showed that the substitution effects of playing smart devices on 3DS, Wii, and PSP were recognizable, but did not have significant effects on PS3, and the substitution effects on PSP were very small. Therefore, mobile games had a substitution effect on casual console games, or on console games in which the play situation resembled mobile games. In addition, the substitution effects were at most about 0.1. The substitution effects were small. Our results indicate that mobile games represent the pioneers in the new market of gaming at least during our observation period. But new games and traditional games will coexist for a while.     

CROSS‐BORDER INTEGRATION IN NORTHEAST ASIAN AIR TRANSPORT MARKET

This study highlights the recent global trends of the air transport market and develops a simulation model to assess the welfare impacts of tripartite liberalization in the Northeast Asian air transport market. First, in the global air transport market, routes between 1000 and 2000 km are identified as the fastest growing segment. Gravity model analysis reveals that there is potentially significant room for further growth from cross‐border liberalization. Second, in the impact assessment of market liberalization in Northeast Asia, the effect of tripartite market liberalization of triangular routes that connect major cities in each of the three nations, Japan, South Korea and Mainland China, is analyzed. Simulation using a Cournot model with product differentiation shows that overall welfare gains would be achieved from tripartite liberalization. Air carriers' losses are overridden by an increase in consumer surplus. Such an arrangement by the three nations might eventually lead to an integrated environment in which airlines could evolve into a true multi‐hub Northeast Asian air carriers.     

Fundamentals of a new economic paradigm in the information age

Mechatronic technology is becoming dominant, and the capitalist market economy is becoming replaced by an economic framework of self-management and information sharing. As services and information become major traded goods at the global level, new economic structures based on globally networking eco-share regions are emerging. This article posits the development of a ‘MuRatopian’ economy—the new social design of the information age. Five actors-prosumer, co-worker, self-financer, inhabitant and villager—are replacing the nation-state in eco-share regions, with full employment, fair income distribution, economic efficiency and incentive, freedom and participatory democracy, all facets of a superior global economy of the information age.     

Assessing the Effects of Service Quality,Past Experience,and Destination Image on Behavioral Intentions in the Spring Training Camp of a Japanese Professional Baseball Team

This study aimed to examine the theoretical relationships between service quality, past experience, destination image, and behavioral intentions in the spring training camp of a professional baseball team in Japan. The results indicate that the service quality of spring training camps was divided into five factors: (1) place, (2) enjoyment, (3) information, (4) fan interaction, and (5) operating time. The findings suggest that service quality and past experience had positive effects on both destination image and behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions were also highly influenced by destination image. Future research and managerial implications are also discussed.     

Some cumulative logit models for panel-data analysis: an application to a dynamic analysis of personal efficacy

This paper introduces novel cumulative logit models for the panel-data analysis of transitions among ordered states of a polytomous dependent variable. The models differ from conventional cumulative logit models in that they can distinguish between covariate effects on the odds of having an upward transition and covariate effects on the odds of having a downward transition in the ordered states of the dependent variable. The new models are applied to panel data on personal efficacy and are used to identify asymmetric patterns in the effects of divorce and unemployment on changes in the level of personal efficacy. The effects of the two events on increasing the odds of having a downward transition are shown to be greater than their effects on decreasing the odds of having an upward transition. Some distinct characteristics of the effects of each event are also reported.