A new anatomy of the retirement process in Japan

In Japan, retirement is a gradual process that transpires over a particularly long period of time. Using large scale micro-level datasets from the Survey of Employment of the Elderly compiled by the Japanese government, we provide some stylized facts on the development of retirement behavior since the 1980s and explore factors affecting the individual retirement decision. First, we observed a general declining trend in the proportion of retired individuals aged 55–59 (especially females) while the proportion of retired individuals aged 65–69 (especially males) increased. Second, the survival analysis on actual retirement age shows that those who are more educated are more likely to retire earlier and those who experienced mandatory retirement are less likely. Third, the survival analysis on the expected retirement age shows that individuals who are satisfied with their job in terms of nonmonetary rewards are less likely to retire earlier.     

Efficient static replication of European options under exponential Lévy models

This study proposes a new scheme for the static replication of European options and their portfolios. First, a general approximation formula for efficient static replication as an extension of Carr P. and Chou A. (1997, 2002) and Carr P. and Wu L. (2002) is derived. Second, a concrete procedure for implementing the scheme by applying it to plain vanilla options under exponential Lévy models is presented. Finally, numerical examples in a model developed by Carr, P., Geman, H., Madan, D., and Yor M. (2002) are used to demonstrate that the replication scheme is more efficient and more effective in practice than a standard static replication method. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 29:1–15, 2009     

Time-use data, analysis and modeling: toward the next generation of transportation planning methodologies

This paper argues that transportation planning methodologies must be built on the central thesis of the activity-based approach to travel demand modeling, namely, that travel is a derived demand that reflects people's desire and need to participate in activities. The paper discusses why this foundation for transportation planning methodologies is necessary to address contemporary planning and policy analysis issues. The paper also argues that the introduction of time-use data, analysis and modeling is a key element in the development of the next generation of transportation planning methodologies. Following a brief review of time-use studies, the paper discusses a number of planning and policy analysis areas in which time-use data will be of particular value, including the evaluation of induced or suppressed travel demand. The concepts advanced in the paper are illustrated with two brief numerical examples. These examples show how model systems based on time-use data can be used to (i) estimate the number of induced trips that would result from a reduction in commute travel time, and (ii) evaluate the impacts of alternative transportation improvement projects.     

Pricing average options under time-changed Lévy processes

This paper presents an approximate formula for pricing average options when the underlying asset price is driven by time-changed Lévy processes. Time-changed Lévy processes are attractive to use for a driving factor of underlying prices because the processes provide a flexible framework for generating jumps, capturing stochastic volatility as the random time change, and introducing the leverage effect. There have been very few studies dealing with pricing problems of exotic derivatives on time-changed Lévy processes in contrast to standard European derivatives. Our pricing formula is based on the Gram–Charlier expansion and the key of the formula is to find analytic treatments for computing the moments of the normalized average asset price. In numerical examples, we demonstrate that our formula give accurate values of average call options when adopting Heston’s stochastic volatility model, VG-CIR, and NIG-CIR models.     

Do TV-aided model lessons in class improve student performance? Evidence from public primary schools in Papua New Guinea

Lack of access to high-quality education remains a serious concern in many developing countries. This is especially the case for rural areas, including islands suffering from a shortage of skilled teachers and sufficient educational equipment. We examine the impact of introducing TV-aided model lessons in class to enhance the quality of teaching (the EQUITV project) on the national examination test scores of Mathematics and “Combined Subject” (a comprehensive subject comprising 30% science and 70% social studies and other topics) as well as English in the final year of primary education in Papua New Guinea. We employ a panel event study to capture the different timings of the intervention across schools over multiple time periods. We find that the project significantly and robustly improved test scores for girls only in English 3 years after the introduction of the project, but no improvement was seen for boys.     

Economic Impacts of SARS/MERS/COVID-19 in Asian Countries

This paper surveys the recent literature on the economic impacts of SARS, MERS, and COVID-19, which Asian countries have experienced in the past two decades. In particular, we provide a detailed summary of how each of the past infectious diseases has impacted on the Asian economies and the extent of that impact. This paper also documents how the governments of Asian countries have responded to the COVID-19 shocks with their economic policies, and discusses the effectiveness of these economic policies to mitigate the COVID-19 shocks on their economies.     

How Do Carbon Taxes Affect Emissions? Plant-Level Evidence from Manufacturing

Environmental and Resource Economics - This paper investigates how carbon taxes affect emissions by examining British Columbia’s revenue-neutral carbon tax in the manufacturing sector. We...     

On the inclusiveness of rural road improvement: Evidence from Morocco

This paper explores the heterogeneous impact of a rural road improvement project on the economic activities and living standards of households in Morocco. Road pavement improvements are expected to promote better market access, encourage the transformation of traditional agricultural activities, and create opportunities for new economic activities. However, benefits may not extend evenly across different groups, and the distributional consequences call for careful empirical investigation. We employ a difference-in-differences (DID) estimation using a household-level panel dataset collected under a quasi-experimental setting in the 2010s. We classify households into three groups based on asset holdings (rich, middle, and poor). We provide several new findings. First, there was no significant transformation of agricultural production or sales for all groups. Second, rich households increased hired agricultural labor and began paid employment while middle households started new family businesses. Poor households, however, did not enjoy these new employment opportunities except for a marginal increase in family businesses. Third, due to shifts in employment, the rural road renewal project improved household consumption 3%–4% annually for rich and middle households, an impact not clearly seen among poor households. Thus, our findings show that the economic benefits of rural road improvement might not be well-inclusive.     

Transformation of international migrants in head wind: Evidence from Tajikistan in the 2010s

Tajikistan has relied on remittances by international migrants that have exceeded a quarter of annual GDP to date, despite a series of exogenous adverse events in the mid-2010s. We use a nationally representative panel dataset collected in 2013 and 2018 to explore the socio-economic characteristics of households with international migrants and migrants themselves. We provide several new findings. First, the prevalence of households with international migrants is 40%, with a substantial transition in migrant status during the research period. Second, households with international migrants are not poor, have Russian-speaking members, and are supported by an intense migration network. Third, younger, single, and more educated males comprise most of Tajikistan's international migrants. Fourth, households without Russian-speaking members or migration networks in 2013 had begun to send international migrants by 2018, while households in the richest group had exited from migration, suggesting s transition of the socio-economic composition of migrant-sending households during the mid-2010s.