SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGHS AND NETWORKS IN THE CASE OF SEMICONDUCTOR LASER TECHNOLOGY IN THE US AND JAPAN, 1960s–2000s

United States organisations took a clear lead in semiconductor laser research until the mid‐1970s. After the 1980s, many important breakthroughs were developed by Japanese organisations. Exploring the journal Applied Physics Letters, this study examines how semiconductor laser technology developed in these two countries and how this change in the country‐level industrial leadership in the scientific research occurred. Examining the relationship among industrial organisations, research networks, and scientific breakthroughs, it discusses how these coevolved and how breakthroughs were channelled in different directions. R&D targets were channelled into small markets in the US, but were concentrated into the same markets in Japan.     

Edgeworth type expansion of ruin probability under Lévy risk processes in the small loading asymptotics

This paper presents an asymptotic expansion of the ultimate ruin probability under Lévy insurance risks as the loading factor tends to zero. The expansion formula is obtained via the Edgeworth type expansion for compound geometric distributions. We give higher-order expansion of the ruin probability, any order of which is available in explicit form, and discuss a certain type of validity of the expansion. We shall also give applications to evaluation of the VaR-type risk measure due to ruin, and the scale function of spectrally negative Lévy processes.     

Resonant R&D structure for effective technology development amidst megacompetition—an empirical analysis of smart cooperative R&D structure in Japan’s transport machinery industry

Under the megacompetition in globalizing economy while facing long lasting economic stagnation, the effective utilization of potential resources for innovation has become a crucial strategy for R&D intensive industries. The construction of a smart cooperative R&D structure has thus become significant. Among Japan’s R&D intensive industries, the transport machinery industry has constructed an effective cooperative R&D structure by smartly complementing both comparatively advantageous and disadvantageous technologies by means of integrating the effective utilization of technology spillover and joint collaborative R&D.Prompted by this complementing system, this paper attempts to elucidate the mechanism enabling the transport machinery industry to construct the smart cooperative R&D structure. Resonant R&D structure is identified as a source of such R&D cooperation leading to increasing its marginal productivity of technology.     

ENDOGENOUS FLEXIBILITY IN THE FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM

We investigate the flexible manufacturing system (FMS) by using the spatial price discrimination framework of Pal. The degree of flexibility when producing variants can be increased by increasing the investment or production cost and is endogenously determined. Our result is that private incentives for increasing flexibility are excessive from a social welfare perspective.     

Farm Level Costs of Agri‐environment Measures: The Impact of Entry Level Stewardship on Cereal Farm Incomes

Applying a difference‐in‐difference approach with propensity score matching, we examine the impact of participation in the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) scheme on cereal farm incomes in eastern England. We assess the extent to which impacts are related to a) the source of income affected – whether only from agricultural or total business income; b) the channel of the impact – through land use and/or labour input; and c) the level of impacts through time. In addition, we assess the appropriateness of the level of the ELS payment. We find that: a) entering the ELS scheme could negatively affect cereal farm incomes – in particular, the total business income; b) that negative impacts arise primarily in relation to the use of land resources; c) that impacts may diminish over a relatively short period of time; and d) that the ELS payment broadly compensates for losses without providing over compensation. Given the diminishing negative impact over time, the level of ELS payment might need to be reviewed in the longer term, although policy evaluation should consider the wider implications for efficiency of alternative payment levels. We also discuss some limitations of the approach and potential extensions.     

Industry‐specific Real Effective Exchange Rates and Export Price Competitiveness: The Cases of Japan,China, and Korea

This paper constructs a new dataset of the industry‐specific real effective exchange rate, based on the producer price indices, for Japan, China, and Korea on a monthly basis from January 2001 to February 2013 in order to provide a better indicator for export price competitiveness. By conducting simulation analysis, we found that Korean electrical machinery firms substantially improved their cost competitiveness by lowering their production costs during the Korean won appreciation period, while Japanese firms' large plant investment caused by management misjudgments led to excessive production capacity, which resulted in the deterioration of Japanese export competitiveness. A structural vector autoregression analysis also reveals that industry differences of cost competitiveness as well as nominal exchange rate changes have significant impact on export performances of Japan and Korea.     

AMU Deviation Indicators for Coordinated Exchange Rate Policies in East Asia and their Relationships with Effective Exchange Rates

After the Asian currency crisis in 1997, the monetary authorities of East Asian countries have been strengthening their regional monetary cooperation. In this paper, we propose a deviation measurement for coordinated exchange rate policies in East Asia to enhance the monetary authorities’ surveillance process for their regional monetary cooperation. We calculate an Asian Monetary Unit (AMU) as a weighted average of East Asian currencies following the method used to calculate the European Currency Unit (ECU). Also, we calculate AMU Deviation Indicators which show how much each of the East Asian currencies deviates from a hypothetical benchmark rate in terms of the AMU. Furthermore, we investigate relationships between the AMU Deviation Indicators and the effective exchange rates, which mean international price competitiveness in terms of international trade. We found strong relationships between the AMU Deviation Indicators and the effective exchange rates except for some currencies. The results suggest that monitoring the AMU Deviation Indicator will be useful for the monetary authorities’ surveillance in East Asia in order to stabilise their effective exchange rate or price competitiveness among the East Asian countries.     

Pricing Structure in Tokyo Metropolitan Land Markets and its Structural Changes: Pre-bubble,Bubble, and Post-bubble Periods

In this paper, we estimate hedonic price equations of Japanese commercial and residential land prices for a 25-year period and to investigate possible structural changes in these price equations. Our price equations are based on transaction prices, not appraised land values, of commercial land in Central Business Districts of Tokyo (Chiyoda Ward, Chuo Ward, and Minato Ward), and residential land of its suburb (Setagaya Ward). We find that price structure differs substantially among locations, reflecting differences in supplier pricing and end-user preferences. We also find significant structural changes in price structure, identifying pre-bubble, bubble and post-bubble periods.

Sounds that make you smile and share: a phonetic key to prosociality and engagement

The importance of names has been demonstrated for decision making related to individuals as well as companies. While previous researchers have focused on traits such as the fluency of names, we present three studies that focus on the role of the “hard e” or [ē] sound in relation to helping behavior. Because pronunciation of the [ē] sound requires a facial movement that mimics a smile particularly when the sound occurs at the end of a name, our research complements previous findings generated by the theory of embodied cognition in which biting on a pencil or chopstick evoked behavioral and mood changes. Study 1 finds that participants are more likely to help someone whose name ends with the [ē] sound while study 2 utilizes a broader set of contrasting sounds and finds a basic preference for the [ē] sound that is specific to women. Study 3 shows that women are significantly more likely to recall addressing their parents as Mommy or Daddy when soliciting help rather than Mom or Dad. Our findings complement previous research concerning motherese and highlight a phonetic cue for prosocial behavior that appears to offer insights for marketing and management. Just as the current studies are important in understanding interpersonal interactions, the findings have direct relevance for marketing campaigns that focus on consumer engagement.     

Functionality development dynamism in a diffusion trajectory: A case of Japan's mobile phones development

While it is generally accepted that Information Technology (IT) has a self-propagating function which ensures that the more widespread its use, the greater its functionality, its emerging dynamism remains a black box.This paper attempts to shed some light on this dynamism through utilizing monthly trend data for the number of Japan's mobile phone subscribers over the last 12 years. A bi-logistic growth model demonstrating the diffusion trajectory initiated by both generations of mobile phones was constructed, with the goal of identifying the increase in the functionality development in the transition from traditional mobile phones with a simple communication function (1st wave mobile phone) to mobile phones with an Internet protocol function (2nd wave mobile phone).Through an empirical analysis utilizing the bi-logistic growth model, it was determined that the 2nd wave mobile phone emerged at an earlier stage of diffusion trajectory than the 1st stage mobile phone, which enabled a sustainable functionality development in Japan's mobile phones over the decade.Factors governing a dramatic decrease in mobile phones prices were analyzed, utilizing the result of the measurement of functionality development. This led to the discovery that while an increase in functionality development enhanced the price of mobile phones, this increase accelerated self-propagating diffusion, thereby enabling a dramatic reduction in prices through the effects of learning exercise and economies of scale.Based on the foregoing findings, the driving forces of self-propagating functionality development were analyzed, and it was determined that effective utilization of potential resources in innovation (e.g., assimilation of spillover technology and learning effects) is the key driving forces behind self-propagating functionality development.