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.     

VALUE CONTENT AND PRODUCTION NETWORKS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: APPLICATION OF AFTA AND ASEAN‐PLUS‐ONE FTA FORMULAS

Rules of origin are an integral part of all trade rules. To be eligible for Common Effective Preferential Tariffs under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement, a product must satisfy the conditions relative to value content. The present paper seeks to calculate value content of industries in Southeast Asia, using the formula specified by the rules of origin in AFTA, the ASEAN–China FTA, the ASEAN–Korea FTA, and the ASEAN–Japan FTA. Moreover, the paper attempts to calculate true value content of industries by applying a simple technique of input–output analysis, and to estimate error margins (i.e., overestimates) in calculating value content. The paper also examines the relationship between value content and production networks. The paper finds that many industries exhibited declines in local content during the period 1990–2000, but that the geographical spread of production networks raised the proportion of inputs supplied by the neighboring ASEAN countries, so that the contribution of the cumulative rule of origin increased.     

Privatization and entries of foreign enterprises in a differentiated industry

We investigate whether or not privatization is beneficial from the viewpoint of social welfare in a monopolistic competition model. We discuss the relationship between the welfare effects of privatization and the degree of foreign direct investment in the private sector, which is an important problem in developing countries and in transition economies such as China and Central and Eastern European countries. We find that, in the long run, privatization of a public firm is more likely to improve welfare when the country depends on foreign capital in the private sector, whereas the opposite tendency exists in the short run.     

Collusive behavior under a leniency program

We investigate how a leniency program, which is a policy that gives reduced penalties to colluding firms that cooperate with investigations of the Antitrust Authority, affects firms’ collusive behavior. Using a model of quantity competition, we show that an amnesty to the second or later candidates of a leniency program is of no use if colluding firms can choose the most profitable collusion. Because a leniency program is a general rule that is applied to various markets in a country, our result implies that the design of a leniency program depends on which kinds of market structure are prevalent in the country.     

Integrated consumer shopping decision model: A Japanese online supermarket context

Abstract

Online shopping is not a new marketing channel but has been growing tremendously throughout Japan. The rapid growth of Internet technology has enabled the Japanese to break away from their conservative culture and embark on different shopping experiences by shopping online. With the growing importance of online reviews to promote one’s business, Japanese online supermarkets are looking for ways to increase consumer-generated content. The purpose of this study is to investigate Japanese repeat online consumers and the antecedents that encourage them to review their shopping experiences, including the supermarket website they used and product availability in the online supermarket. It was found that online supermarkets must focus on establishing confidence with their repeat online consumers if they desire to increase the electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) of their online supermarket. Implications are discussed in relation to online supermarkets and repeat consumers’ intentions to review their online shopping experiences.     

R&D competition between public and private sectors

We investigate a mixed market where a welfare-maximizing public research institute competes against profit-maximizing private firms. We investigate R&D competition by using a standard model of patent races where each firm chooses both its innovation size and R&D expenditure. We find that the innovation size (R&D expenditure) chosen by the public institute is too small (too large) from the viewpoint of social welfare, respectively, and so the government should control the public institute appropriately. We also discuss the welfare implications of privatization of public research institutes.     

Impact of the US Economic Crisis on East Asian Economies： Production Networks and Triangular Trade through Chinese Mainland

This paper investigates the impact of the 2008 economic crisis on industries in East Asia. It attempts to identify the transmission mechanism and the magnitude of the impact of the crisis on industries in East Asia using the updated Asian international input–output table for 2008. The analyses reveal that the crisis significantly affected industrial output of the nine East Asian economies included in the present study. The economies that are deeply involved in production networks were affected most seriously. Our analyses also show that the impact was transmitted to East Asian industries through triangular trade, in which Chinese mainland imports parts and components from neighboring East Asian economies and then exports final products to the US and EU markets. Although such intricate production networks have improved the competitiveness of East Asian economies, they have also increased vulnerability to external shocks.     

Strategic delegation under quality competition

This paper examines strategic manipulations of incentive contracts in a model where firms compete in quality as well as in price. Compensation schemes for managers are based on a linear combination of profits and sales. For a given level of quality, a firm desires to reduce the manager's compensation when product sales increase; this serves as the firm's commitment to raise prices. Nevertheless, in general, a manager has a stronger incentive to produce goods of higher quality if he is compensated according to sales. Therefore, a compensation scheme that penalizes a manager when sales increase may result in products that are inferior to those of its rival. We show that, depending on the nature of quality, a positive weight on sales may be desirable when firms compete in quality and price. Welfare implications are also explored.     

Research and analysis on bid rigging mechanisms

This paper examines detected bid rigging mechanisms based on the decisions of the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) from April 1996 to December 2005. We first develop some indicators that represent important characteristics of the ring mechanism from a theoretical and empirical point of view. We then classify bid rigging cases filed by the JFTC based on these indicators. We also provide simple economic analysis using the JFTC database and find that (1) extremely simple mechanisms were adopted in many bid rigging cases detected in Japan during the period examined and (2) some ring mechanisms facilitate a reduction in information asymmetry among ring members, however such function plays a subordinate role.     

‘Thailand‐plus‐one’: a GVC‐led development strategy for Cambodia

This paper discusses the location choices of export‐oriented firms in the context of a global value chain‐led development strategy. The results of a firm survey are used to examine, for the case of Cambodia, how less developed countries can participate in global value chains by specialising in a niche segment of the value chain. The survey results, which focus on the location choices of Cambodian firms that have mother factories in Thailand, show that the border region has advantages for access to suppliers and markets, while there are disadvantages for recruiting and retaining workers. Metropolitan areas, on the other hand, have advantages in the pooling of human resources, expatriates' living conditions, and access to government services, while inland transport costs are a burden for firms located in metropolitan areas. Policy implications are developed.