Minimum investment requirement,financial market imperfection and self-fulfilling belief

We develop a model in which a strategic complementarity in saving decisions arises due to a minimum investment requirement and financial market imperfection. We explore the role of self-fulling beliefs in determining the long run dynamics. The model exhibits a wide range of dynamic phenomena such as a poverty trap, a big push and a sunspot equilibrium, depending on the level of financial market imperfection. They account for excessive volatility and a sudden change in the saving rate and its macroeconomic consequences without any shocks to fundamentals.     

Endogenous inequality and fluctuations in a two-country model

We study a two-country version of Matsuyama's [K. Matsuyama, Financial market globalization, symmetry-breaking, and endogenous inequality of nations, Econometrica 72 (2004) 853-884] world economy model. As in Matsuyama's model, symmetry-breaking can be observed, and symmetry-breaking generates endogenously determined levels of inequality. In addition, we show that when the countries differ in population size, their interaction through credit markets may lead to persistent endogenous fluctuations.     

回到朝鲜战争去——第二次朝鲜战争与回避“核”危机的力量

去年10月朝鲜进行的核试验在日本引起了强烈反应,同时日本政府也想利用这次引发人们安全担心的事件机会,加强日美军事同盟和实现对日本宪法和平条款的“修改”。在这样的局面下,日本的和平运动要具有足够的说服力,就必需首先回溯到朝鲜战争的历史情境和视点,历史地理解朝鲜的核试实和那时美军准备使用核武器(虽然最后没用)这一历史脉络有密切关系。而显然,这样的历史视点才会使日本的民众看清第三世界国家所以着力核武的结构性原因,也即和平运动反对核武固然重要,但同样重要甚至更重要的是消除使人们去追求核武的世界或地区结构。     

Regional unemployment disparities in China

China has larger regional unemployment disparities than any other economy of comparable size. The persistence of the unemployment disparity in China has prevented the aggregate unemployment rate from decreasing even when the country’s GDP was growing at 10 percent per year. Unemployment rates rose and unemployment disparities widened in other transition economies too, but what made China’s disparities wider than those in other transition economies is the existence of a large subsistence sector, where unemployment exists only in a disguised form. This study explains the wide unemployment disparity in China with the geographically uneven distribution of the three sectors: the state sector, which suffers from a steep rise of unemployment during transition; the capitalist sector, which absorbs labor from the subsistence sector and grows rapidly; and the subsistence sector, which supplies its redundant labor to the capitalist sector. The study also presents a case study of Fuxin City, which has experienced an extremely high unemployment rate due to the reform of its main industry. Fuxin’s case is presented as a microcosm of the problems that give rise to unemployment disparities, such as massive layoffs in the state sector, lack of labor mobility in the unemployment-stricken regions, and inadequate development of the capitalist sector.     

The Nexus between Disability,Education, and Employment: Evidence from Nepal

The links between disability, education, and employment remain unclear in developing countries due to the lack of credible data. This paper identifies and compares the effect of education on employability, employment status (full-time or part-time), job type (white collar or blue collar), and job satisfaction among persons with disabilities using a unique data-set of over 400 respondents with hearing, physical, and visual impairments in Nepal. The analysis also utilizes nationally representative survey data from the Nepal Living Standard Survey 2010/2011 (NLSS III) for a robustness test. Results show a positive correlation between years of schooling and the likelihood of obtaining a full-time and white-collar job. Regarding the type of impairment, those with physical impairments are less likely to be employed when individual characteristics are controlled, but report higher levels of job satisfaction when they are employed. Results thus suggest the need to invest further in education for persons with disabilities, in order to increase their participation within the labor market.     

日中战争的文化空间--周作人与竹内好

日本侵华期间,周作人在沦陷区的北京出任伪职。与此同时,竹内好也滞留于北京,从事过一些文化工作。在此期间,两人多有接触。周作人强调中国文化的特质及其在“东亚文化圈”中的重要性,竹内好也一再强调汉字作为“东亚文化圈”的共同媒介所具有的特殊地位。但在历史潮流的裹挟中,两人都遭到了失败。     

Eco-innovation for enabling resource efficiency and green growth: development of an analytical framework and preliminary analysis of industry and policy practices

In order to meet great environmental challenges including climate change, more attention needs to be paid to innovation as a way to develop and realise sustainable solutions. This paper reviews the existing understanding of “eco-innovation” and proposes a framework that defines this concept from three aspects—target, mechanism and impact. The proposed framework is also applied to understand the evolution of corporate activities for sustainable production and analyse some good practices. Eco-innovation activities are very diverse and are occurring at different levels and scales. Although the primary focus of corporate practices tends to be on technological advances, some advanced industry players have adopted complementary organisational or institutional changes such as new business models and alternative modes of provision. It is therefore essential to capture both incremental and systemic (or radical) types of eco-innovation unlike most empirical research in this area.     

On the Cost Structure of the Japanese Property-Casualty Insurance Industry

This article tests economies of scale and economies of scope for the property‐casualty insurance companies in Japan. We fit a composite cost function to a set of Japanese firms over the period from 1980 to 1995 and employ an error components model. Our main findings are as follows. First, statistically significant economies of scale are observed in both Japanese firms and foreign firms operating in Japan. Second, economies of scope are also statistically significant for Japanese firms and most of the foreign insurers between the “third sector” products and the rest of the property‐casualty insurance lines.