Tomohiko Inui

An international comparison of the TFP levels and the productivity convergence of Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese listed firms

Focusing on Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese firms in the manufacturing sector, this paper examines productivity catch-up at the firm level using the distance from the technology frontier as a direct measure of the potential for catch-up. We also examine the role of absorptive capacity for technological catch-up by including variables such as R&D expenditure and foreign ownership in our empirical estimation. We find that the national frontier has a stronger pull on domestic firms than the regional frontier, which is in line with findings by Bartelsman, Haskel, and Martin (2008). This result indicates that policies to raise the technology level of national frontier firms are beneficial for all firms in that country.

The Impact of Globalization on Establishment-Level Employment Dynamics in Japan*

This study applies Davis, Haltiwanger, and Schuhs method (1996) to measure job creation/destruction rates of establishments in manufacturing firms using Japanese Economic Census data in 2006 and 2009. Results show that the decrease in net domestic employment arises mainly from firms without subsidiary companies, and non-expanding multinational enterprises. Domestic employment increases when the number of overseas subsidiaries increases. Both job creation/destruction rates of multinational enterprises are high, and the globalization of Japanese firms accelerates de-industrialization in Japan. The job creation and the net employment growth rates of establishments belonging to small-sized firms are lower than those in large-sized firms.

Information and Export Decisions: Bank’s Role as a Conduit of Information

This paper examines how firms’ decision to start exporting is affected by the availability of information on export markets. Unlike existing studies which focus on information sharing among firms, we are interested in the information provided by firms’ top lender bank (main bank). Specifically, using a unique dataset containing information on both Japanese firms’ export activities and their main banks’ experience in transacting with other exporting firms, we examine whether main banks act as a conduit of information on export markets. We find that information spillovers through main banks positively affect client firms’ decision to start exporting (extensive margin), implying that information on foreign markets provided by main banks substantially reduces the fixed entry cost of exporting and helps non-exporting client firms to become exporters. Moreover, our results imply that information spillovers through main banks are more important for firms which choose Asia as their export destination. As such firms are more likely to be smaller firms, our results may suggest that main banks play an important role as a conduit of information particularly for smaller firms. Thus, our results highlight that channels of information spillovers other than those examined in the literature so far may be of considerable importance.

What Are the Long-term Effects of Extracurricular Sports Activities for Children and Adolescents? Evidence from Japan Using a Nationwide Sample of Twins

Our research examines the causal relationship between children’s experiences in sports and their subsequent outcomes later on in life. Using the sample of Japanese twins that the authors collected through web-monitoring survey, we will look at the difference in children’s sports experiences at school between twin pairs. Our main research task is to examine, after controlling for the innate ability and family environments where the children were growing up, whether sports can help your life better.

Are Television and Video Games Really Harmful for Kids

Are watching television and playing video games really harmful for childrens development? This is a very intriguing question for both parents and policy circles, although measuring the rigorous effects is difficult due to data and methodological limitations. By making use of a unique longitudinal dataset with detailed information on childrens development and health, we examine the effect of hours of television watched or of video games played on school-aged childrens problem behavior, positive orientation to school, and obesity. The results drawn from the fixed and random effects models while controlling for the time-invariant unobserved omitted variables in this paper suggest that the answer to the question is yes and that the negative effect would be dramatically increased by an excessive amount of exposure to television or video games. However, the magnitude of the effect is small enough to be negligible. The results are robust to within twin fixed effects.

Outsourcing to China

According to the WTO’s International Trade Statistics, the share of Chinese merchandise exports and imports were 8.0% and 6.4% in the total of world exports and imports in 2006, respectively, and the size of Chinese merchandise trade is ranked as number three in world trade, following the US and Germany. The total amount of Chinese exports and imports has increased from US

How Effective are Investment Promotion Agencies? Evidence from China

151 billion to US

The Economic Impact of Korean Reunification on Major Trade Partners: An Empirical Analysis Based on the World Input–Output Tables

1,218 billion and from US

Does Offshoring Pay? Firm-Level Evidence from Japan

139 billion to US

Deregulation and Productivity in Japanese Industries

956 billion in the period between 1996 and 2007 (see Figures 7.1 and 7.2), respectively. Foreign-owned firms in China played the dominant role for this rapid expansion of Chinese international trade. Both shares of exports and imports conducted by foreign-owned firms were around 60% of Chinese total exports and imports in 2007.