Vertical Integration in the Japanese Movie Industry

This study examines vertical integration in the Japanese movie industry. I estimate an admission price equation, and a moviegoing demand equation derived from a discrete choice model of product differentiation. In order to overcome identification problems, this study exploits a panel structure dataset. My results show that the price of vertically integrated theaters tends to be higher than nonintegrated theaters, but it appears to be due to the inherent high quality of vertically integrated theaters. On the other hand, vertically integrated theaters are more popular among consumers and have higher attendance than nonintegrated theaters. Even after controlling the theater fixed effects, attendance for vertically integrated theaters is still larger than nonintegrated theaters. That is, the integration of producers/distributors and theaters is likely to be a source of economic efficiency. Policy implications are also proposed.     

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS,CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE IN JAPAN

Since the beginning of the 2000s, institutional investors in Japan have become active in strengthening corporate governance, with the aim of achieving long‐term corporate value. The present paper examines the relationship between institutional investors and corporate governance, and also the relationship between institutional investors' shareholdings and firm performance. The results suggest that corporate governance has been enhanced by institutional investors. However, it is found that there is not a statistically significant difference between institutional investors' shareholdings and firm performance.     

Coverage area expansion, customer switching, and household profiles in the Japanese broadband access market

This paper examines the diffusion process of Internet broadband access in Japan by modeling the household choice of access modes. Estimates reveal that the characteristics of users, rather than those of the access modes, play a significant role in demand substitution across the modes. Simulation exercises indicate that had optic fibers (fiber-to-the-home; FTTH) been made available to the whole country in 2005, only 10% of households would have switched to that mode. This result implies that once chosen, the household choice of access mode persists, and that indirect network effects are an important element in decisions to adopt the new technology of broadband. Finally, policy implications are discussed.     

Why do first-born children live together with parents?

In this paper, we analyze the strategic residential location choices of multiple siblings who receive childcare assistance from their parents. Our three stage game yields a theoretical result that first-born children are more likely to live together with or close to their parents than second-born children, which is supported by our estimation results using Japanese micro-data. We also empirically show that the childcare assistance from parents is one of the determinants of the residential location choice of siblings. This paper is the first to succeed in explaining the residential location choice of siblings in Japan using economic incentives.     

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS DEFINITION AND CORPORATE GROWTH: THE EFFECT OF FUNCTIONAL ALIGNMENT

Abstract. In previous research, the hypothesis drawn from Theodore Levitt's idea that companies could continuously grow by ‘functional’ business definitions was statistically proved with 50 Japanese electric/electronics companies. The current research tests the hypothesis that in the case where the functions in corporate business definitions, divisional business definitions and products and services are all aligned, it will ultimately bring continuous growth to the company, through case studies and content analysis of four companies with highly functional corporate business definitions. As a result, it is proved that the company that successfully aligns the functions on every level continuously grows at a higher rate than the others.     

Market Power in International Commodity Trade: The Case of Coffee

This paper studies the impact of market power on international commodity prices. I use a standard oligopoly model and exploit historical variations in the structure of the international coffee bean market to assess the impact of a cartel treaty on coffee prices and its global welfare consequences. The results suggest that the International Coffee Agreement (ICA, 1965–89) raised its price by 75% above the Cournot‐competitive level, annually transferring approximately $12 billion from consumers to exporting countries, and its lapse in 1989 explains four‐fifths of the subsequent price decline, that is, the ‘coffee crisis.’     

Strategy transformation through strategic innovation capability – a case study of Fanuc

This paper presents a theoretical framework under which large companies should be able to bring about strategy transformation. First, we present the concept of ‘strategic innovation capability’, a corporate system capability to achieve corporate strategy transformation by strategic innovation. Then, we consider strategic innovation capability by comparing it with previous theories (dynamic capability, major innovation, dynamic capability, breakthrough innovation capability). Second, we present the case example of strategy transformation at Fanuc, a company that holds the top global share in the numerical control (NC) market. In this case study research, we consider and analyze historically how the company aimed for new creativity in the NC market, developed innovative NC technology for the machine tool market, and used that technology energetically for commercialized products. From the strategic innovation capability framework, the core theory of this paper, we also analyze and consider how top management made conscious efforts to form a new development organization within the company, and the processes involved in achieving strategy transformation to establish competitive superiority in this field. Finally, we discuss the implications drawn from this case analysis, and the issues for future research.     

Does Big Drive Out Small?

This paper measures the impact of the entry of large supermarkets on incumbents of various sizes. Contrary to the conventional notion that big stores drive small rivals out of the market, data from Tokyo in the 1990s show that large supermarkets’ entry induces the exit of existing large and medium-size competitors, but improves the survival rate of small supermarkets. These findings highlight the role of store size as an important dimension of product differentiation. Size-based entry regulations would appear to protect big incumbents, at the expense of small incumbents and potential entrants.     

Communication technologies and spatial organization of multi-unit firms in metropolitan areas

Departing from traditional location theory (which treats a firm as a single-unit entity), in this paper we consider that each firm consists of multiple units that exchange information or services. Specifically, we develop a general equilibrium model of the city,in which each firm consists of a front-unit (e.g. business office) and back-unit (e.g. plant or back-office). Each front-unit interacts with all other front-units for the purpose of business communications, while each back-unit exchanges information or management services only with the front-unit of the same firm. Each firm must choose the location of its front-unit and back-unit optimally. The equilibrium spatial configuration of the city is determined as an outcome of interactions among all firms and households through competitive land and labor markets. We show that, depending on parameters, a variety of interesting patterns of metropolitan spatial organization emerges.     

Second liberalization in Japan

The Japanese government revised the Public Telecommunications Law and issued the relevant Act and Ordinance on 23 October 1982. Ten years have passed since the first liberalization opened up the public networks for data communication. The newly revised Law paves the way for more liberal use of leased circuits and networks from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (NTT). Further, it permits activities of specialized telecommunications service agencies to compete with the government-owned and monopolized NTT in the domestic data communication market. Industrial and financial circles have demanded both, as they would like to spread their computer communication networks more extensively, and offer some specialized telecommunication services within their own community. The historical and social background to this remarkable liberalization were discussed in a recent article in Telecommunications Policy.