Information Contents in Japanese OTC Drug Advertising from Elaboration Likelihood Model Perspective: Content Analysis of TV Commercials and OTC Drug Websites

Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the current study investigates information types that are cross-promoted in Japanese pharmaceutical advertising. The results from a quantitative content analysis of OTC drug brands' TV commercials broadcasted in Japan between 2014 and 2015 and their corresponding product websites (n = 150) show that Japanese OTC drug promotions feature more informational cues in the latter; cues such as price, safety, quality, components, and guarantees/warranties are particularly prominent. Furthermore, product websites tend to focus more on rational appeals, whereas TV commercials emphasize emotional appeals. No difference is found between these media types regarding celebrity and noncelebrity endorser usage.     

Electronic Marketing Communications: An Evolving Environment,but Similar Story Regarding the Perception of Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail and Postal Direct Mail

The internet is still a relatively new mass communication tool for advertisers and marketers. When weighing the potential benefits of electronic techniques against the financial investment, spam seems particularly attractive to marketers for either for-profit or non-profit objectives. Since it is unlikely that marketers will decrease their efforts related to spam and postal direct mail as a form of communicating to mass consumers, it is important to track consumer attitudes so that audiences are not subjected to the backlash predicted by psychological reactance. The results of this study found that spam is more irritating than postal direct mail at both T₁ (2004) and T₂ (2006), and participants in T₂ found both direct marketing communication methods more intrusive than those in T₁.     

A new higher-order weak approximation scheme for stochastic differential equations and the Runge–Kutta method

The authors report on the construction of a new algorithm for the weak approximation of stochastic differential equations. In this algorithm, an ODE-valued random variable whose average approximates the solution of the given stochastic differential equation is constructed by using the notion of free Lie algebras. It is proved that the classical Runge–Kutta method for ODEs is directly applicable to the ODE drawn from the random variable. In a numerical experiment, this is applied to the problem of pricing Asian options under the Heston stochastic volatility model. Compared with some other methods, this algorithm is significantly faster. This research was partly supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), 15540110, 2003 and 18540113, 2006, the 21st century COE program at Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, the University of Tokyo, and JSPS Core-to-Core Program 18005.     

The Diversity of R&D Consortia and Firm Behavior: Evidence from Japanese Data

An empirical analysis of Japanese government-sponsored R&D consortia involving 213 firms over 13 years shows that the diversity of a consortium is associated with greater R&D expenditure by participating firms. Diversity is alternatively measured by the Montgomery [1982] index, based on 3-digit SIC codes, and Branstetter and Sakakibara's [1998] modification of the Jaffe [1986] patent portfolio based index.     

The Concentration of State-Owned Enterprises and the Role of Internal Capital Transactions in General Corporations; the Case of Textile and Clothing Industry in Vietnam

MOCT-MOST: Economic Policy in Transitional Economies -     

商业信用合同的履行概率,其外部性及现金需求——中国案例

本文测算了商业信用合同违约风险对商业贸易和现金需求的影响。结果显示,外国直接投资企业为其贸易伙伴提供了大量商业信用,而中国的企业,无论是私营,还是国有企业,他们交易实行货到即时付款的比例很高。外国直接投资企业之所以是经济交易中信贷的提供者,是因为他们具有较高的商业信用合同执行技术(contract enforcement technology)。我们还发现商业信用合同的执行技术主要包括贸易物品的竞争力、竞争幅度、与地方政府的关系以及公司治理的性质。一个企业具有较高的合同执行概率,就可能提供大量的商业信用,并获得更大的交易量。合同执行技术对贸易交易量的弹性估计约为2.2。模拟显示如果合同执行概率提高,分布在75%,贸易交易量可增加24%,商业信用规模可增加30%。由于商业信用合约的不完备而导致的经济损失则是巨大的。此外,我们证实,高的商业信用合同执行技术通过商业信用量和交易量的增加而在经济中产生正外部效应。     

Quantifying the evolution of world trade, 1870–1949

The typical narrative regarding the evolution of world trade prior to World War II refers to a secular rise starting around 1870 and a subsequent collapse beginning in 1914. This narrative, however, is based on measures of trade openness that do not fully take into account purchasing power differences across countries. Due to lack of alternative data, the measures employed in the existing literature are typically based on non-PPP-adjusted trade data denominated by PPP-adjusted GDP data. The present paper seeks to resolve this inconsistency by constructing new trade share estimates for 62 countries, representing 90% of world GDP, for the period from 1870 to 1949. Our estimates combine historical import and export figures with non-PPP-adjusted GDP values that we estimate via the short-cut method. Our estimates confirm qualitatively the narrative of a dramatic rise and fall of world trade over this period. Yet, they indicate that this rise and fall was quantitatively much more pronounced. We find that trade shares were on average 38% higher than previously documented and the world's level of trade openness in 1913 was comparable to that in 1974.     

Strategic Research Partnerships: Empirical Evidence from Asia

This paper evaluates the role Strategic Research Partnerships (SRPs) play in Asia. Specific Asian institutional settings influence the roles of SRPs. Japan is regarded as a forerunner in the practice of SRPs. In Japan, lack of spillover channels, limited opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, weak university research and pressure for internal diversification motivate firms to form SRPs. In Korea, SRPs are regarded as a means to promote large-scale research projects. In Taiwan, SRPs are formed to facilitate technological diffusion. Empirical findings on SRPs, focusing on government-sponsored R&D consortia in Japan, are summarized. Issues regarding SRP formation, their effect on R&D spending of participating firms, and productivity, are examined. Reference is made to alternative forms of measurement of SRPs and their potential application to Asian countries is assessed. Enhancing the capacity of policy-makers to assess the extent and contribution of SRPs is considered to be a priority.     

Formation of R&D consortia: industry and company effects

This study investigates economic and strategic inducements of R&D cooperation. We focus on industry and company factors that affect a firm's rate of participation in R&D consortia. These factors are analyzed in a dynamic context using a sample of 312 Japanese firms in 74 industries between 1969 and 1992. We find a firm in an industry with weak competition and appropriability conditions has a higher rate of consortia participation. A firm's R&D capabilities, network formation through past consortia, encounter with other firms in product markets, age, and past participation in large‐scale consortia also positively affect its tendency of consortia formation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.