The effects of the PDCA cycle and OJT on workplace learning

In the present article, we examined the effects of the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle and on-the-job-training (OJT) on workplace learning. We defined workplace learning based on the concept of an organizational learning cycle. Using survey data from a Japanese fire and marine insurance company, we found that PDCA, OJT (empowerment), and reflective communication had positive effects on workplace learning. These results suggest that quality management, empowerment and reflective practice may help to significantly improve workplace learning. We also discuss theoretical and managerial implications of this study.     

Destabilization effect of international trade in a perfect foresight dynamic general equilibrium model

In the present paper, we consider a two-country, two-good, two-factor general equilibrium model with CIES nonlinear preferences, asymmetric technologies across countries and decreasing returns to scale. It is shown that aggregate instability and endogenous fluctuations may occur due to international trade. In particular, we prove that the integration into a common market on which countries trade the produced good and the capital input may lead to period-two cycles even when the closed-economy equilibrium is saddle-point stable in both countries.     

On the computability of quasi-transitive binary social choice rules in an infinite society and the halting problem

This paper investigates the computability problem of the existence of a vetoer and an oligarchy for quasi-transitive binary social choice rules (Mas-Colell and Sonnenschein in Rev Econ Stud 39:185–192, 1972) in a society with an infinite number of individuals (infinite society) according to the computable calculus (or computable analysis) by Aberth (Computable analysis, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1980; Computable calculus, Academic Press, Dublin, 2001). We will show the following results. The problem whether a quasi-transitive binary social choice rule which satisfies Pareto principle and independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) has a vetoer or has no vetoer in an infinite society is a nonsolvable problem, that is, there exists no ideal computer program for a quasi-transitive binary social choice rule which satisfies Pareto principle and IIA that decides whether it has a vetoer or has no vetoer. And it is equivalent to nonsolvability of the halting problem. We also show that if for any quasi-transitive binary social choice rule there exists an oligarchy in an infinite society, whether it is finite or infinite is a nonsolvable problem. A vetoer is an individual such that if he strictly prefers an alternative to another alternative, then the society prefers the former to the latter or is indifferent between them regardless of the preferences of other individuals, and an oligarchy is the minimal set of individuals which has dictatorial power and its each member is a vetoer. It will be shown that an oligarchy is a set of vetoers if it exists. This research was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), 20530165, and the Grant-in-Aid from the Zengin Foundation for Studies on Economics and Finance in Japan.     

Product cycles, endogenous skill acquisition, and wage inequality

Abstract .  This paper presents an endogenous product cycle overlapping generations model, where the supply of skilled labour is endogenously determined. This is used to examine how production shifts through imitation by developing countries affect the domestic wage differential and supply of skilled labour in developed countries. In the model, production shifts increase the demand for researchers in developed countries and cause higher relative wages for skilled labour: this leads to more individuals acquiring the skills. As a consequence, the model helps to explain the simultaneous increase in the domestic wage gap and in the supply of skilled labour observed in developed countries.     

A quantitative analysis of unemployment benefit extensions

Extensions of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits have been implemented in response to the Great Recession. This paper measures the effect of these extensions on the unemployment rate using a calibrated structural model featuring job search and consumption-saving decisions, skill depreciation, and UI eligibility. The ongoing UI benefit extensions are found to have raised the unemployment rate by 1.4 percentage points, which is about 30% of the observed increase since 2007. Moreover, the contribution of the UI benefit extensions to the elevated unemployment rate increased during 2009–2011; while the number of vacancies recovered, the successive extensions kept search intensity down.     

Long run equilibria in an asymmetric oligopoly

Summary. Consider an oligopolistic industry composed of two groups (or populations) of firms, the low cost firms and the high cost firms. The firms produce a homogeneous good. I study the finite population evolutionarily stable strategy defined by Schaffer (1988), and the long run equilibrium in the stochastic evolutionary dynamics based on imitation and experimentation of strategies by firms in each group. I will show the following results. 1) The finite population evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) output is equal to the competitive (or Walrasian) output in each group of the firms. 2) Under the assumption that the marginal cost is increasing, the ESS state is the long run equilibrium in the stochastic evolutionary dynamics in the limit as the output grid step, which will be defined in the paper, approaches to zero. Received: September 19, 1997; revised: June 18, 1998     

SEARCH UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE EFFECT OF AGGREGATE DEMAND POLICY: A DUAL LABOR MARKETS ANALYSIS

This paper examines the role of aggregate demand policy affecting unemployment under a model of dual labor markets. Recently, some papers have considered the sources of unemployment in OECD countries and have stressed the role of aggregate demand policy in reducing it. However, there exists the argument that aggregate demand policy may have an adverse effect on unemployment. Therefore, in this paper, we will consider in what situations aggregate demand policy has such an effect on unemployment, and propose an analysis of its microfoundation.     

Firm Heterogeneity and FDI in Distribution Services

Distribution services play a large role in intermediating production and consumption across borders. Using firm‐level data on Japanese multinationals in wholesale and retail sectors, this study examines FDI decisions of distribution firms for local distribution services at the extensive and intensive margin. Consistent with the model of heterogeneous firms on multinational production, I find that more productive multinationals are more likely than less productive multinationals to enter a larger number of markets, to penetrate less attractive markets and to generate larger sales per each market. While these findings are consistent with previous evidence on manufacturing multinationals, I find some distinctive determinants of FDI in distribution services.