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.     

Trade and Gains from Trade Between Profit-maximizing and Labour-managed Countries with Imperfect Competition

This paper offers a theoretical analysis of trade and the gains from trade in general equilibrium under imperfect competition by assuming that all firms in one country are of the labour-managed type (maximizing the income of labour) while those in the other country are of the profit-maximizing type. Our main conclusion is that if the labour-managed country is larger than or equal to the profit-maximizing country, the profit-maximizing country exports the imperfectly competitive commodity and gains from trade while the labour-managed country exports the perfectly competitive commodity and may lose from trade.     

Direct Investment, Monopoly and Welfare

This paper considers foreign direct investment which produces a manufactured good entirely for the market of the host country. It analyzes the welfare implications of an expansion of this activity, and compares the results with ones obtained from the model of export processing zones. It is shown that, contrary to the case of EPZs, an expansion of market-oriented direct investment improves welfare under free trade, and if there is an import tariff, the expansion may improve welfare under certain conditions.     

Non-traded inputs,interindustry flows,resource allocation and the ERP theory

This paper investigates the movement of gross outputs and resource allocation under the condition allowing for substitutability among various inputs within the framework of a simple general equilibrium model with both non-traded intermediate inputs and interindustry flows. Particular attention is paid to the sufficient conditions under which the gross output of the protected industry goes up and the industry attracts domestic factors under the Bhagwati-Srinivasan restriction on tariff change.     

Proposing effective strategies for meeting an environmental regulation with attainable technology improvement targets

The Japanese government will adopt the CAFE standard after 2020. By using a “modified” slacks-based measure (SBM) model, this study analyzed the technical efficiency of 113 gasoline vehicle models (GVs) and 54 hybrid vehicle models (HVs) sold by Japanese manufacturers in 2016. We also estimated attainable fuel efficiency of specific vehicle models that can be further improved referring to the nearest point on the best practice frontier. The improved CAFE values and standards of the nine automobile manufacturers were calculated. The technology gap from the vehicle technology frontier was more noticeable among gasoline vehicles than among hybrids. Moreover, most automobile manufacturers can achieve the CAFE standard through an effective achievement strategy based on best practice technologies, whereas the others will not achieve the CAFE standard even given a rapid technology innovation beyond the best practice frontiers for GVs and HVs.     

Urban unemployment, informal sector and development policies

We analyze the effects of wage subsidy policies on unemployment and welfare in the model that is characterized by the existence of both open unemployment and the informal sector that producesfinal goods. Our main findings are as follows. Wage subsidies to the agricultural and informal sectors increase welfare and decrease urban unemployment. The effects of a wage subsidy to manufacturing sector on welfare and unemployment are conditional. We identify some sufficient conditions for the definite results and interpret them.     

Formation of special economic zone,liberalized FDI policy and agricultural productivity

Formation of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) using agricultural land to promote industrialization has recently been one of the most controversial policy issues in many developing economies including India. This paper critically evaluates the consequences of this policy in terms of a three-sector Harris–Todaro type general equilibrium model characterizing a typical developing economy. It finds that agriculture and SEZ can grow simultaneously provided the government spends a substantial amount of its resources on irrigation projects and other infrastructural development designed at improving the efficiency of land. Agricultural wage and aggregate employment in the economy may also improve owing to this policy.     

Can International Factor Mobility Reduce Wage Inequality in a Dual Economy?*

This paper analyzes the consequences of international factor movements on the skilled–unskilled wage inequality in a dual‐economy set‐up that includes unemployment and three intersectorally mobile factors of production—unskilled labor, skilled labor, and capital. Thus far, theoretical literature on this subject has adopted the full‐employment framework and hence ignored the problem of unemployment. The analysis in this paper reveals that the results crucially depend on the difference in the intersectoral factor intensities between skilled labor and capital. In particular, it demonstrates the existence of a possibility of deterioration in wage inequality following foreign unskilled‐labor inflow.     

Export Processing Zones, Backward Linkages, and Variable Returns to Scale

This paper investigates the effects of forming export processing zones on factor rewards, national income, and the intermediate-good-producing sector under variable returns to scale (VRS). It is shown that the results obtained in the model under constant returns to scale are substantially modified if VRS is incorporated into the model.