Increasing the financial integration of U.S. and Japanese markets

The term ‘internationalization of finance’ has been in general use for many years now. The term simply means that the financial systems of various countries have developed relationships that extend across national borders. Another term, ‘globalization of finance’ takes the concept one step further. Generally speaking, there are three reasons behind the steady progress of financial globalization: (1) interest rate deregulation and securitization since the 1970s have proceeded in a similar form in the major countries, which has made financial globalization easier; (2) the increased volume of international capital flows in recent years; (3) the development of telecommunications and computer technology has facilitated the increased international transaction of goods and capital and their settlement using various currencies and 24-hour trading.     

Japanese FDI into U.S. service industries: Exchange rate changes and services tradability

Using the implications of the model of investment under uncertainty, this paper provides a systematic examination of the FDI–exchange rate relationship with respect to services taking into account the degree of tradability across services. Services have mainly been addressed in the literature as a sensitivity test by industry using aggregated service data identified as “nonmanufacturing”. Using data on Japanese FDI into 207 U.S. service industries, maximium-likehood estimates reveal that dollar appreciations are positively correlated with service FDI flows into the U.S. This positive correlation is stronger for non-tradable services versus tradable services. For tradable and non-tradable producer services, higher exchange rate uncertainty may lead to fewer FDI occurrences. On average, across all types of services, higher U.S. unit labor costs relative to Japan had a deterrent effect on Japanese service FDI as well. Finally, this paper also provides a useful benchmark to partition services by tradability.     

The west and China: globalisation and competition in financial services

This paper examines the evolution of the industrial structure of global financial firms since the 1970s, during which time, free market policies dominated theoretical and practical policy discussion. It examines the logic behind and evidence on consolidation in the international financial services industry. It analyses the impact of Washington Consensus policies upon the expansion of global banks in developing and transition economies. It contrasts the evolution of the international banking structure during the era of modern globalisation with that in China, which has followed a fundamentally different path. Although Chinese banks have large profits and market capitalisation, their international competitiveness is still limited. Global banks have only a small role in the Chinese economy and Chinese banks have a small role in the international economy. The contrast between the two systems is of central importance for the way in which competition and regulation develops in the global financial sector.     

The antebellum U.S. iron industry: Domestic production and foreign competition

This paper presents new annual estimates of U.S. production of pig iron and imports of pig iron products dating back to 1827. These estimates are used to assess the vulnerability of the antebellum iron industry to foreign competition and the role of the tariff in fostering the industry’s early development. Domestic pig iron production is found to be highly sensitive to changes in import prices. Although import price fluctuations had a much greater impact on U.S. production than changes in import duties, our estimates suggest that the tariff permitted domestic output to be about 30-40 percent larger than it would have been without protection.     

R & D expenditures and import competition: Some evidence for the U.S.

Zusammenfassung F & E-Ausgaben und Importkonkurrenz. Einige Befunde für die USA. - Die Verfasser untersuchen den Einflu? der Importkonkurrenz auf die F & E-Aktivit?ten der amerikanischen Industrie. Die theoretische Diskussion deutet daraufhin, da? eine verst?rkte Importkonkurrenz die F & E-Ausgaben nur in hochtechnologischen Industriezweigen erh?ht, w?hrend Industrien mit geringerer Technologie wahrscheinlich als Antwort andere Strategien w?hlen. Der empirische Befund für die Jahre 1972-87 scheint diese Annahme zu best?tigen.

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Résumé Des dépenses pour la R & D et la concurrence de l’importation: Quelques preuves pour les Etats Unis. - Dans cette étude les auteurs examinent l’effet de la concurrence de l’importation sur l’activité de R & D dans l’industrie américaine. La discussion théorique propose qu’une intensification de la concurrence de l’importation augmenterait les dépenses pour la R & D seulement dans les industries d’une technologie supérieure tandis que les industries d’une technologie inférieure probablement choisiraient une réaction différente. Les preuves empiriques pour les années 1972 à 1987 semblent confirmer cette proposition.

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Resurnen Gasto en I & D e importaciones competitivas: alguna evidencia para los EE UU. - En este trabajo se investiga el impacto de importaciones competitivas sobre la actividad de I & D en la industria de los EE UU. La discusión teórica sugiere que un aumento de la competencia por parte de las importaciones podria elevar el gasto en I & D de las industrias de tecnología avanzada, mientras que en las industrias de menor nivel tecnológico la respuesta podría ser diferente. La evidencia empírica para los a?os 1972–1987 parece confirmar esta propositión.

     

A comparison of the Japanese and U.S. business cycles

This paper constructs a consistent set of quarterly Japanese data for the 1960–2002 sample period and compares properties of the Japanese and U.S. business cycles. We document some important differences in the adjustment of labor input between the two countries. In Japan most of the adjustment is in hours per worker of males and females and also in employment of females. In the U.S. most of the adjustment is in employment of both males and females. We formulate, estimate, and analyze a model that makes the distinction between the intensive and extensive margin and allows for gender differerences in labor supply. A weak empirical correlation between hours per worker and employment in Japanese data is a puzzle for our theory.     

美国军方能否解决可替代能源问题

美国国防部高级研究计划局曾协助民间力量发明了互联网，现在又将目标放到了清洁能源技术上。它能够再次实现一石二鸟式的成功，改变军方和民间的能源消费和生产方式吗     

评美国提高产业国际竞争力

一国产业国际竞争力，直接牵涉到该国社会经济发展的各个方面，影响到该国的国民福利，在很大程度上决定该国在世界政治经济舞台中的地位和作用，并往往成为影响其国家竞争力的重要砝码，本文以美国产业国际竞争力及其变化为探讨对象，分析20世纪80年代美国产业竞争力的主要表现和引发的争议；从80年代产业竞争力下降转变为90年代产业竞争力渐强的原因及其对美国经济的影响，最后阐述美国的这一转变实践对我国的几点启示。     

The role of savings in economic development the U.S. and Japanese experiences

This paper explores the relationship between savings and growth in the United States and in Japan within a simple Granger causality framework. For Japan, growth caused savings before World War II while after World War II savings caused growth. For the US, growth caused savings after World War II. These results suggest that the savings-growth relationship may depend upon the stage of development.     

Vertical foreign direct investment: Evidence from Japanese and U.S. multinational enterprises

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries has increased since the 1990s, but there is mixed evidence of vertical FDI associated with factor-seeking motives. This paper estimates the vertical motive of offshore production by multinational enterprises (MNEs) by exploiting past schooling characteristics as instruments for skilled-labor abundance in a host country. Using panel data on Japanese and U.S. MNEs in the 1990s, I find that skilled-labor abundance has a significantly negative impact on sales of manufacturing foreign affiliate only for Japanese MNEs. The results suggest that vertical FDI activity was more prevalent in Japanese MNEs than U.S. MNEs. A plausible explanation is that Japanese MNEs might be more vertically integrated with their offshore production than U.S. MNEs. A difference in foreign outsourcing activities could generate the observed deviation between Japanese and U.S. MNEs.     

The Japanese–U.S. trade balance and the yen: Evidence from industry data

While it is often assumed that a country's trade balance will improve in the long-run if its currency is allowed to depreciate, this is not necessarily the case for specific goods. In the short run, the opposite might even take place, as fixed quantities and rising import prices cause the trade balance to deteriorate. In this paper, we apply cointegration methodology to assess the short- and long-run impact of fluctuations in the yen–dollar real exchange rate on Japan's trade balance with the U.S. for 117 industries. We find that depreciation causes the trade balance to improve in the long-run for about one-third of Japanese industries. Most short-run effects are in the same direction, indicating a quick improvement in these industries’ trade balance, rather than a period of deterioration such as a “J-curve.”     

Comparative advantages in U.S. bilateral services trade with China and India

Using bilateral trade data for 16 service categories, this paper examines the patterns, evolution, and determinants of comparative advantage (CA) in U.S. services trade with China and India from 1992 to 2010. The results indicate that the U.S. has a CA in most services, except in more traditional ones, such as travel and transportation. However, India, and more recently China, gained a CA in modern services, such as computer and information services during the period considered in this paper. An examination of the distributional dynamics indicates that the likelihood of U.S. gaining CA over an initial position of comparative disadvantage (CDA) in its trade of a particular service with India is higher than the probability of losing its initial dominance. In contrast, the U.S. CA or CDA vis-à-vis China exhibits high levels of persistence over time. The regression results suggest that relative abundance of sector-specific labor, human capital, and FDI inflows have been significant sources of CA for the U.S. over both China and India.     

美国金融监管改革法案对公司治理的影响

美国金融监管改革法案主要针对金融业,但法案中的许多内容涉及到公司治理的变革,诸如董事选举、代理权取得、董事会构成、董事会风险委员会以及经纪人投票等新规定,这些将不可避免地影响美国的金融机构以及众多上市公司的公司治理。     

U.S. Distribution Entry Strategy of Japanese Manufacturing Firms: The Role of Keiretsu

This article identifies the determinants of three modes of foreign market entry into distribution activities—arm's-length contracts, joint ventures, and wholly owned subsidiaries—and assesses the impact of unique institutional structures on the decision. We examine 310 Japanese manufacturers' entries into the U.S. market and find evidence that keirestu affiliation significantly increases the likelihood that contracts are chosen, suggesting common keiretsu membership by manufacturers and general trading companies mitigates agency problems in contractual delegation of foreign distribution activities. Regading the choice between joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries, relaxed capital and information constraints increase the likelihood that keiretsu firms establish wholly owned subsidiaries. J. Japan. Int. Econ., March 2000, 14(1), pp. 43–72. Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, California 90095-1481; A. T. Kearney, 222 West Adams, Chicago, Illinois 60606 Copyright 2000 Academic Press.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: E23, L22, L14.     

Term premia comovement in German,Japanese, and U.S. domestic markets

This paper gauges the openness of German, Japanese, and U.S. capital markets by examining their term premia comovement. The term premia appear to move together. This result suggests that the risky excess returns in the term structure behave as if the assets in the three countries were traded in a single integrated market.     

谁来监管美国的市场经济--美国监管体制的演变:从命令-控制到成本-收益分析

在市场经济演进和发展的过程中,一个极为重要的问题是如何解决市场失灵.政府以监管方式对此进行干预和纠正,可以提高经济效率,改善社会福利.但在具体的操作中,什么样的监管体制才是合意的,具体地说,由谁来监管,以何种方式进行监管,如何监管监管者等问题,却并没有标准答案.     

Modeling coordinated foreign exchange market interventions: The case of the Japanese and U.S. interventions in the 1990s

During the past thirty years, central banks often intervened in foreign exchange markets. Sometimes they carried out foreign exchange market interventions on a unilateral basis. However, central banks often coordinated their foreign exchange market interventions. We develop a quantitative reaction function model that renders it possible to study the factors that made central banks switch from unilateral to coordinated interventions. We apply our model to the intervention policies of the Japanese monetary authorities and the U.S. Federal Reserve in the yen/U.S. dollar market during the period 1991–2001. To this end, we use recently released official data on the foreign exchange market interventions of the Japanese monetary authorities. JEL no. F31, F33, G14, G15     

Bilateralism and Regionalism in Japanese and U.S. Trade and Direct Foreign Investment Patterns

We apply a modified "gravity model" incorporating measures of factor endowments to analyze Japanese and U.S. bilateral trade flows and direct foreign investment positions with a sample of around 100 countries for the period 1985–1990. Country features that our analysis takes into account are population, income, the land–labor ratio, the average level of education, and region. We find that features of a country associated with more trade with either Japan or the United States also tend to be associated with more direct foreign investment (DFI) from Japan or the United States. U.S. economic relations with Japan and Western Europe provide an important exception. Despite U.S. concern about its trade deficit with Japan, we find Japan to be much more open to the United States, not only as a source of imports, but also as a destination for U.S. exports than most countries in Western Europe. Taking other factors into account, however, Western Europe is more open to U.S. direct foreign investment. We also find that a country′s level of education tends to increase significantly U.S. interaction of all types with that country, even after correcting for per capita income. Education does not play a significant role in Japanese trade patterns. As factor endowment theory would predict, the United States tends to trade more with densely populated countries, while Japan tends to import more from sparsely populated countries. Even after taking into account population, income, factor endowments, and region, there is a substantial degree of "bilateralism" in Japanese and U.S. economic relationships in that the residual correlation among exports, imports, and outward direct foreign investment is much larger than would be the case if these magnitudes were independent across countries. J. Japan. Int. Econ. December 1994, 8(4), pp. 478–510. Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.