Inyong Shin

Convergence, clustering and their effects on attendance in the Japan Professional Baseball League

In this research, using a panel data set for the Japan Professional Baseball League (JPBL) during the post-WWII period, we apply the technique developed by Hobijn and Franses (2000) to examine the competitive balance from the view point of convergence and its effect upon game attendance. The JPBL comprises two leagues, the Central League (CL) and the Pacific League (PL). The CL is far more popular with fans than the PL. Our estimation results showed that the number of the PL clusters continues to go towards unity, thereby raising the uncertainty of the outcome to increase the PL game attendance more rapidly. Also, attendance by CL fans tends to be more inelastic with team performance than for the PL. Therefore, the PL payroll was more elastic to wins than that of the CL. The features of each League have crucial impacts on the outcomes and the behaviours of team insiders such as players and managers.

Effects of Income Inequality on Growth through Efficiency Improvement and Capital Accumulation.

In the present paper, the inverted-U shape relationship between economic growth and inequality found in Chen (2003) is re-examined. We decompose productivity growth into efficiency improvement, capital accumulation and technological progress and then ascertain their determinants by employing fixed effects and dynamic panel models. In particular, this paper focuses on the question of how economic inequality affects capital accumulation and efficiency improvement. Key findings are that inequality enhances efficiency improvement as well as capital accumulation and then undermines them as inequality widens. However, other factors such as human capital, openness and government consumption have different effects on them.

Technological Progress and Future of Kuznets Curve

This study considers the fluctuation in the degree of income inequality after the Kuznets curve completes a single inverted U-shaped curve. It ascertains that new-born technological inventions increase the degree of inequality; however, the degree of inequality declines as the technology disperses into the overall economy using OECD members’ data. Assuming that technological progress takes place repetitively throughout long term economic growth, the Kuznets curve does not converge to a single inverted U-shaped curve. Rather, it fluctuates through technological progress where technology appears as an invention, but with time it becomes common knowledge.

Change and prediction of income and fertility rates across countries

This paper analyzes and predicts the changes of relationship between income and fertility rate of cross-countries using a bivariate mixture model and a latent change score model. This paper has shown that there is a negative relationship between income and fertility rate, which is presented in the form of inverted S-shaped curve which shows the three regimes of demographic transition. Some developed countries have completed their demographic transition in fertility rate, and in developing countries, the demographic transition in fertility rate is still in progress. This paper has also shown that the number of peaks of income distribution has increased in recent years comparing to 1960s and the number won’t decrease in the future. However, the number of peaks of fertility rate distribution hasn’t changed from 1960s to recent years but due to the shift, finally, the distribution will change to a uni-modal distribution in the future. The income will be applied to the conditional convergence and the fertility rate will be applied to the absolute convergence. The fertility gap among cross-countries will disappear, but the income gap won’t. Although the population conditions in developing countries will improve, income inequality in cross-country may not be improved after all.