Entry of Small and Medium Enterprises and Economic Dynamism in Japan

In examining the evolution of small and medium enterprises in Japan in the postwar period, this paper shows that entry rates for new firms have declined sharply in the last quarter century or so, a trend observed across most sectors of the economy as well as across most firm-size categories. To explain this pattern, the paper investigates the determinants of entry in Japan. Among other factors, it finds that cost disadvantages owing to small scale and the shortage of technical resources are significant deterrents to entry. It also finds that the availability of government-directed credit deters entry which suggests that, in their current form, such credit programs protect incumbents. Among positive factors, it finds that subcontracting opportunities promote entry which suggests that the subcontracting system in Japan is open to newcomers and helps give them a foothold in the economy.     

The proposal and validity of the Customer Science Dual System--The key to corporate management innovation

A future successful global marketer must develop an excellent quality marketing system that impresses users and continuously provides excellent, quality products in a timely manner through corporate management. In this study, the authors proposed the Customer Science Dual System, CS-TMNS ＆ CS-SDSM. For the purpose of innovating strategic product development systems so called Customer Value Creative System, the Total Marketing Network System, CS-TMNS is established. In addition, for intelligent utilization of the established CS-TMNS, statistical science is incorporated so as to create the Strategic Designing Support Methods, CS-SDSM, as a new approach to the creation of wants that are vital to product planning and designing. Concretely, the author will also introduce the effectiveness of this system that reflects latent customer needs through scientific marketing application examples via Automobile Design Profile for the Younger Generation.     

Bayesian Statistical Computations of Nonlinear Financial Time Series Models: A Survey with Illustrations

A survey of Bayesian statistical computations of quadratureformula, Laplace approximation, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms ispresentedand their applications to nonlinear financial time series models arediscussed.     

Asian Financial Crisis.Prologue and the Case of Thailand

We suggest that the Asian financial crisis began because of theinconsistent exchange rate system and miss-management within Thailand. We showthat prior tothe Asian financial crisis the Thai Baht against the Yen followed the theoryofpurchasing power parity but the Baht against the U.S. Dollar did not. We givebriefsummaries of the papers included in this issue.     

Do Japanese consumers care about sustainable fisheries? Evidence from an auction of ecolabelled seafood

This paper investigates Japanese consumers' willingness to pay for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabelled seafood using a sealed bid, second price auction. Participants in an experiment in Tokyo were provided varying degrees of information about the status of world and Japanese fisheries and the MSC program in sequential rounds of bidding on ecolabelled and nonlabelled salmon products. A random‐effects tobit regression shows that there is a statistically significant premium of about 20 per cent for MSC‐ecolabelled salmon over nonlabelled salmon when consumers are provided information on both the status of global fish stocks and the purpose of the MSC program. This premium arises from a combination of an increased willingness to pay for labelled products and a decreased willingness to pay for unlabelled products. However, in the absence of experimenter‐provided information, or when provided information about the purpose of the MSC program alone without concurrent information about the need for the MSC program, there is no statistically significant premium.     

Technological Progress by Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan

This paper examines various aspects of total factor productivity across different firm sizes in Japan. It shows that larger firms have higher total factor productivity levels and growth than smaller firms. There are, however, some exceptions to this pattern especially in the electric machinery sector where small firms tend to have the edge. The paper also finds that two distinctive characteristics of small and medium firms, the practice of subcontracting and the use of external patents, are positively related to total factor productivity growth while the availability of subsidized public loans is not.     

Sectoral Price Movements under the Yen Appreciation

This paper analyzes the movements of tradable goods prices in Japan. The import price indices and the export price indices are matched with the domestic wholesale price indices at the most detailed level available for Japan, and the pricing behavior in the yen appreciation period (1985–1995) is examined. In the import-side analysis, we investigate how far the price movements under currency appreciation deviate from the law of one price. We find that internal–external price differentials have surprisingly expanded for most of the products since 1985. For a number of commodities, the import prices do not decline as far as the exchange rate appreciates, and the domestic wholesale prices do not decrease as far as the import prices decline. Although the expanded price gaps cannot necessarily be interpreted as a result of deliberate trade barriers, they suggest that some sort of handicap is imposed on imported goods and the large fraction of rent generated by the yen appreciation is intercepted in the middle. In the export-side analysis, the relationship between the globalization of firms' activities and export pass-through is investigated. Our cross-sectional regression analysis indicates that the export path-through rates tend to be low when the value added ratios of foreign production of Japanese firms are high. Low export pass-through under currency appreciation is often interpreted as a result of firms' attempts to keep their foreign market share, but the globalization of firms' activities may be another important factor in lowering the pass-through.J. Japan Int. Econ.,December 1997,11(4), pp. 611–641. Department of Economics, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108, Japan.     

Overcoming coordination failure using a mechanism based on gradualism and endogeneity

We examine three tools that can enhance coordination success in a repeated multiple-choice coordination game. Gradualism means that the game starts as an easy coordination problem and moves gradually to a more difficult one. The Endogenous Ascending mechanism implies that a gradual increase in the upper bound of coordination occurs only if coordination with the Pareto superior equilibrium in a stage game is attained. The Endogenous Descending mechanism requires that when the game’s participants fail to coordinate, the level of the next coordination game be adjusted such that the game becomes simpler. We show that gradualism may not always work, but in such instances, its effect can be reinforced by endogeneity. Our laboratory experiment provides evidence that a mechanism that combines three tools, herein termed the “Gradualism with Endogenous Ascending and Descending (GEAD)” mechanism, works well. We discuss how the GEAD mechanism can be applied to real-life situations that suffer from coordination failure.