Makoto Kakinaka

Social value orientation and capitalism in societies

Cooperation and competition are core issues in various fields, since they are claimed to affect the evolution of human societies and ecological organizations. A long-standing debate has existed on how social behaviors and preferences are shaped with culture. Considering the economic environment as part of culture, this study examines whether the ongoing modernization of competitive societies, called “capitalism,” affects the evolution of people’s social preferences and behaviors. To test this argument, we implemented field experiments of social value orientation and surveys with 1002 respondents for three different areas of Bangladesh: (i) rural, (ii) transitional and (iii) capitalistic societies. The main result reveals that with the evolution from rural to capitalistic societies, people are likely to be less prosocial and more likely to be competitive. In a transitional society, there is a considerable proportion of “unidentified” people, neither proself nor prosocial, implying the potential existence of unstable states during a transformation period from rural to capitalistic societies. We also find that people become more proself with increasing age, education and number of children. These results suggest that important environmental, climate change or sustainability problems, which require cooperation rather than competition, will pose more danger as societies become capitalistic.

Capital Structure and Investment Financing of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Vietnam

Abstract Insufficient sources of internal financing and inaccessibility of external financing are acknowledged as crucial constraints on new investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study examines how capital structure is related to investment decision for SMEs in Vietnam. In particular, we investigate the effect of capital structure on the decision to seek new investment as well as the choice of its financing sources. The main results reveal that SMEs with high financial leverage tend to engage more in seeking new investment. Moreover, empirical results demonstrate that among SMEs seeking new investment, those with higher financial leverage are more likely to choose external financing rather than internal financing. These results confirm the dynamic feature of the pecking order theory in the context of SMEs’ capital structure in Vietnam.

Extensive and intensive margins of exports: the case of the Philippines*

Abstract This study investigates the Philippines’ merchandise export patterns by empirically examining its performance of extensive and intensive margins at the product level over the sample period from 1975 to 2012. The main results suggest that the Philippines’ weak exports may be traced primarily from its poor performance at intensive margin, i.e. survival and deepening. In addition, our analysis indicates significant differences on the country’s export performance between its established markets (major trading partners, including Japan, the US, China, Hong Kong, and Korea, and ASEAN-5 members) and its relatively new export destinations (new ASEAN members).

Global uncertainty and capital flows: any difference between foreign direct investment and portfolio investment?

ABSTRACT This note investigates how global uncertainty relates to extreme waves of capital flows, including foreign direct investment, portfolio investment, and other investment. We find the clear differences in the role of global uncertainty between advanced and developing economies. Global uncertainty increases the likelihood of sudden contraction of portfolio investment in both advanced and developing economies, while it increases that of foreign direct investment in only advanced economies.