The impacts of export competition on international technology flows

Knowledge flow is a key to building technological capabilities. This article investigates how competition in international trade affects knowledge flow between countries using patent data and trade data for analysis. The main finding is that export competition in the third market (in our study, the US market) seems to have a positive impact on the flow of knowledge. The findings from this study contribute to the debate on ‘learning-by-exporting’.     

A multistage method to measure efficiency and its application to Japanese banking industry

When measuring technical efficiency with existing data envelopment analysis (DEA) techniques, mean efficiency scores generally exhibit volatile patterns over time. This appears to be at odds with the general perception of learning-by-doing management, due to Arrow [The economic implications of learning by doing. Review of Economic Studies 1964; 154–73]. Further, this phenomenon is largely attributable to the fundamental assumption of deterministic data maintained in DEA models, and to the difficulty such models have in incorporating environmental influences. This paper proposes a three-stage method to measure DEA efficiency while controlling for the impacts of both statistical noise and environmental factors. Using panel data on Japanese banking over the period 1997–2001, we demonstrate that the proposed approach greatly mitigates these weaknesses of DEA models. We find a stable upward trend in mean measured efficiency, indicating that, on average, the bankers were learning over the sample period. Therefore, we conclude that this new method is a significant improvement relative to those DEA models currently used by researchers, corporate management, and industrial regulatory bodies to evaluate performance of their respective interests.     

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.     

Health-related quality-of-life,work productivity,and economic burden among patients with Parkinson’s disease in Japan

Abstract

Aims: This study aimed to characterize the burden of Parkinson’s disease (PD) by examining health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL), impairments to work productivity and daily activities, healthcare resource use, and associated costs among Japanese patients with PD.

Materials and methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study used data from the 2009–2014 Japan National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) (n?=?144,692). HRQoL (Short Form 36-Item Health Survey version 2), impairments to work productivity and daily activities (Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire), healthcare resource utilization, and annual costs were compared between respondents with PD (n?=?133) and controls without PD (n?=?144,559). The effect of PD on outcomes was estimated using propensity score weighting and multivariable regression models.

Results: HRQoL was lower in patients with PD compared to the control group, with reduced physical (41.3 vs 51.3) and mental (35.7 vs 45.4) component summary scores and health state utility scores (0.62 vs 0.77; p?<?.001 for all). Patients with PD also reported higher levels of absenteeism (19.3% vs 3.3%), presenteeism (45.2% vs 18.5%), overall work impairment (52.8% vs 20.3%), and activity impairment (49.6% vs 20.8%) than controls without PD (p?<?.001 for all). In addition, patients with PD had higher healthcare resource utilization, direct (¥3,856,921/$37,994 vs ¥715,289/$7,046), and indirect (¥2,573,938/$25,356 vs ¥902,534/$8,891) costs compared with controls without PD (p?<?.001 for both).

Limitations: Data were cross-sectional and did not allow for causal inferences. Although the NHWS demographically represents the Japanese adult population, it is unclear whether it adequately represents the adult population with PD in Japan.

Conclusions: PD was associated with poorer HRQoL, greater work productivity loss, and higher direct and indirect costs. The findings suggest that an unmet need exists among patients with PD in Japan. Improving PD treatment and management could benefit both patients and society.     

Differentiating use and nonuse values for coastal pond water quality improvements

This paper measures the benefits of water quality improvements in three coastal ponds on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, U.S.A. Use, option, and existence values were elicited from Martha's Vineyard property owners by the contingent valuation method. On average, more than half of the total benefits are attributed to existence value. Results from the Heckman selection model show that the exclusion of protest, as well as missing bids, does not cause significant bias in estimating respondents' willingness-to-pay. Socioeconomic characteristics are found to have distinctively different influences on use, option, and existence values. Different model parameters are likely to be estimated depending on which value categories are measured by a selected valuation technique. These findings emphasize the importance of nonuse values from water quality improvements and of socioeconomic characteristics for measuring different categories of values.Associate Scientist, the Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Support for this research was provided by the Pew Charitable Trust, and the Marine Policy Center. Thanks are due Elliot Backerman for making the data available to the author, and Peter Britz and Sarah Repetto for research assistance. Comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper from Steven Edwards, A. Myrick Freeman, Porter Hoagland, Raymond Kopp, V. Kerry Smith and two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged. This article is WHOI Contribution No. 7752.     

NATURAL DISASTERS,DAMAGE TO BANKS,AND FIRM INVESTMENT

This article investigates the effect of banks’ lending capacity on firms’ investment. To identify exogenous shocks to loan supply, we utilize the natural experiment provided by Japan's Great Hanshin‐Awaji earthquake in 1995. Using a unique data set that allows us to identify firms and banks in the earthquake‐affected areas, we find that the investment ratio of firms located outside the earthquake‐affected areas but having a main bank inside the areas was significantly smaller than that of firms located outside the areas and having a main bank outside the areas. Our findings suggest that loan supply shocks affect firm investment.     

Differences in travel objectives between first‐time and repeat tourists: An empirical analysis for the Kansai area in Japan

This study investigates the differences in travel objectives between first‐time and repeat tourists. We conduct a questionnaire survey of travel agencies, which asked about specific tour plan for target tourists, their experiences and travel objectives in the Kansai area in Japan. We estimate a logit model for the relationship between travel objectives and visiting experiences. The results indicate that the first‐time tourists' main objective is to enjoy looking around sightseeing spots, while the repeat tourists' objective is simply to enjoy the stay, including the hotel visit and participating in events. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prospects for Japanese-Russian trade expansion in the second half of the 1990s

During the Soviet period, trade between the USSR and Japan was relatively unimportant, constituting approximately 2 percent of the Soviet Union's total foreign trade turnover. The composition of trade goods, moreover, was primitive. The USSR exported unprocessed raw materials in exchange for high value added industrial products. This paper examines the impact of Russia's fledgling transition on its trade with Japan and finds some hopeful developments. Although the volume of trade has contracted, Russian exports are reviving, the commodity structure is adjusting appropriately to changes in relative prices, and embodied factor content is import-capital-intensive as required by the Leontief variant of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory. The primary cloud blighting this performance is Russia's continuing inability to export its industrial goods.