Japan's Lost Decade and its Financial System

After briefly explaining the causes of the Japanese asset‐price bubble in the 1980s, this paper analyses why the bursting of the bubble developed into a full‐fledged financial crisis in the late 1990s. In order to cope with this crisis, the Government has injected capital directly into the banking sector and banks have written off enormous amounts of bad loans. However, the Japanese financial sector remains very weak and Japan still faces a number of problems in its financial system. Firstly, the profit margin of banks is too small to cover the increased default risk following the bursting of the bubble, and there are market distortions created by the government‐backed financial institutions and the requirements on new lending to small and medium sized companies. Secondly, banks still have excessive stock investment and crossholding of shares between banks and other companies has weakened the market discipline on entrenched management. Thirdly, the government guarantee of all banking‐sector liabilities should be removed. Once the financial system is stabilised, a risk‐adjusted deposit insurance premium should be introduced so as to strengthen market discipline on banks, and the huge postal saving system should be privatised to create a level‐playing field among deposit taking financial institutions. Besides the foregoing, the weak corporate governance structure of Japanese financial institutions has to be remodelled. The management of banks has shielded themselves by extensive cross‐shareholdings, especially with life insurance companies. There has been extensive mutual provision of capital, most large life insurance companies have weak corporate governance, and many of the large shareholders of banks are life insurance companies. This double gearing between banks and life insurance companies has therefore weakened the market control of Japanese financial institutions.     

在泡沫里

一 特拉维夫市被其仰慕者和诋毁者描述成"泡沫"——一个执意要忽视一些尴尬的现实,诸如领土冲突、社会的不平等,亦或是宗教极端主义、浮躁的社会风气还是极度贫困的现象.当你走进城市的街道,这种感觉会更加强烈,你会看到理查德·梅尔和菲利普·约翰逊主张的城建高速发展;也会看到旅游观光时非去不可的充满魅力的繁华海滨;还会看到各种艺术咖啡厅林立及蓬勃发展的夜生活场景.所有的这些都让你将以色列的各种复杂的关系和矛盾忘却,将自己沉浸在无忧无虑的享乐主义中,过着阳光般的生活.     

快递包裹丢失案的法律适用分析

货物在托运时,由于快递公司工作人员的失误致使货物丢失,在未办理保价运输的情形下如何赔付,相关的法律适用差异较大,本文通过对一二审法院的判决进行对比,认为在快递公司构成故意或重大过失的情形,利益受损方应该能够通过行使选择权获得赔偿。     

The Past Decade Saw Changing Role of China in the WTO

China joined the WTO to become its 143rd member state on November 10, 2001 after eight years of negotiations. A seminar titled the Future of China and WTO was held in Beijing on the tenth anniversary o...     

环境正义缺失与“三维伦理”矫正

环境正义是环境伦理学的重要价值论关怀,其实质是环境利益和生态责任的公平分配与合理分担。有鉴于工业文明以来经济过程的反生态性、反人道性和不可持续性,在处理人际关系、代际关系和国际关系中都必须高度关注人与自然的关系,这就必然要求传统伦理学拓展研究视域,坚持＂三维伦理＂（利己、利他、利环境）规范,切实矫正环境正义缺失,促进社会的文明进步与人的自由全面发展。针对我国的现状,我国应在环境伦理意识培养、市场主体建设、政府决策民主科学、建立科学的生产方式、破除社会陋习、树立正确的城市建设和发展观念方面进一步加强。     

我的互联网十年——老兵不死,他们只是消隐了

我在1999年至2000年之交,开始做与互联网行业有关的研究,度过当下这个秋季,就整整十年了。北京的秋说来就来了,气温一下子降到18度,伴随淅淅沥沥的阴雨,老天爷摆出一副落寞的神情。     

Double Bubble Trouble

Amid increasingly turbulent credit markets and ever-weaker reports on the economy,the Federal Reserve has been unusually swift and determined in its lowering of the overnight lending rate.The White House and Congress have moved quickly as well,approving rebates for families and tax breaks for businesses. And more monetary easing from the Fed could well be on the way.     

The Baltics: Continuing Boom or Bursting Bubble?

Since the late 1990s, the economies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have experienced unprecedented economic growth, which has attracted a large number of foreign investors. American companies were among the first to seek business opportunities and have invested over $1 billion in the three countries as of 2008. However, the boom—partly financed on a loose credit policy—has recently created a fragile economic situation due to soaring wages, double-digit inflation, and high current account deficits. The resulting economic deceleration in the first half of 2008 has led analysts to comment that the “Baltic Bubble” is about to burst, potentially leading to a long-term recession. Other experts, nevertheless, maintain that the three countries are only experiencing a natural consolidation, which does not seriously endanger business opportunities in the long run. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current condition of the Baltic economies and the environment for businesses there in order to determine if the three countries will still be attractive destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the future.     

房地产行业价格泡沫的经济学模型设计

<正>近年来,中国房地产价格持续攀升,特别是以上海为中心的长江中下游地区、以深圳为代表的沿海地区、以北京为代表的华北地区、以乌鲁木齐为代表的西部地区房地产价格上涨幅度为甚,各城市房价全线上涨至高位。虽然目前中国的房价增速放缓,甚至有些地区的房价出现     

挂"彩"的滋味

"不爱面包,爱酸甜苦辣的彩票",如果你要问时下什么彩票卖得最红火,非足球彩票莫属!这种"两元换来500万,一秒钟改变命运"的猜球游戏,自2001年10月23日在中国正式亮相后,不到两个月的时间销售额就高达2亿元(广东单期销售逾5000万,成为中国销售量最多的省份),就这样不知不觉中,足彩用不到2个月的时间走完了其他体育彩票几年要走的路.     

Lost Profits from Patent Infringement: The Simulation Approach

A patent owner is entitled to recover any additional profits that would have been earned but for infringement. This paper suggests the use of an adaptation of merger simulation to assess lost profits in patent infringement cases. A model of the industry with infringement is calibrated to observed prices and quantities and estimated demand elasticities. Lost profits are then estimated by calculating a new equilibrium without the infringing product(s).     

房地产泡沫的虚拟经济决定论及其实证检验

现代房地产具有虚拟资产特征。对房地产泡沫的虚拟经济决定论的实证检验包括:房地产价格与货币政策、利率政策、信贷波动及股价各自之间的相关检验。结果发现,货币供应量、利率等虚拟经济变量对房地产价格都存在显著的影响。整体而言,来自中国的实证分析初步支持了房地产泡沫的货币推动假说,房地产泡沫是一种货币现象的判断。     

Advertising Research in the Post-WTO Decade in China

This paper reviews advertising studies on China published in 13 advertising, marketing, and business journals during the decade after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) (2002-2011). Since its WTO entry, China's advertising industry (including regulatory environment and advertising practices) has fundamentally changed, turning it into the world's fastest-growing advertising market and the country with the largest pool of netizens. We adopt the "glocalization" framework to selectively highlight five themes in our review: (1) diversified/shifting cultural values, (2) language and brand names, (3) acceptable/offensive advertising, (4) media growth and control, and (5) agency management. Our discussion follows Taylor's (2005) suggested agenda for international advertising research and focuses on the implications for academic researchers and advertising professionals that these papers collectively provide. In the transitional market in China, insights from past studies are relevant for its future development in advertising both locally and globally.