Showing papers by "Musashi University published in 2016"

Impact of a disaster on land price: evidence from fukushima nuclear power plant accident

Abstract: The Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, triggered the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. This study estimates the economic damage caused by the radioactive contamination from the plant using a hedonic approach. Our estimation results show that an increase of 1μSv∕h decreases the land price by 3.39% on average in Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. Specifically, damage due to the radiation effect is estimated to cost approximately 64.1 billion yen in Fukushima. In addition, our result shows that commercial and business areas are more sensitive than residential areas to the radiation quantity.

Evaluation of the fiscal effect on municipal mergers: Quasi-experimental evidence from Japanese municipal data

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a fiscal common pool problem in Japanese municipal mergers Specifically, we investigated whether the merged municipalities rapidly their increase expenditures and debt just before mergers Because the likelihood of Japanese municipal mergers depends on a municipality's characteristics such as population size, area, and fiscal conditions, municipal mergers are a non-voluntary and non-random phenomenon in Japan Therefore, identify causal effects by applying propensity score matching within a differences-in-differences framework to address the problems of endogeneity bias and sample selection bias In particular, we focus on the subordinate merger partner in absorption-type merger Our results show that the subordinate merger partner suffers from adverse fiscal conditions and creates the fiscal common pool problem in public projects just before mergers

East and South China Seas Maritime Dispute Resolution and Escalation: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Abstract: Our assumptions about the nature and conduct of contemporary international politics deeply impact how we view maritime disputes plaguing the East and South China Seas. In this article, our analysis of the push and pull factors that influence the extent and possible resolution of maritime disputes in East Asia reveals that war is neither opposed in principle nor completely forbidden as an alternative. Amid heightening maritime tensions in the region, we argue that the underlying forces sustaining complex interdependence are what prevent rival states from engaging into a realist-inspired, zero-sum warfare. However, this is not to suggest that economic interdependence creates an absolute power that completely eradicates these flashpoints, and neither do we imply that it faithfully reflects East Asia’s maritime political reality. Although East Asian countries (particularly the more powerful ones) may think that open war can be justified, as a matter of practical utility, avoiding it is likely to be more effec...

Certified reference materials of agricultural products and foods bearing radioactivity from the Fukushima nuclear accident

Abstract: Certified reference materials (CRMs) for food analysis were developed in an inter-laboratory experiment for validation of measurement of radiocesium in foodstuffs. Since 2012, five series of CRMs were developed, including for brown rice grain, soybean powder, beef flake, shiitake mushroom powder and marine fish (meat and bone parts). This paper discusses the strategy of development, including choice of CRMs developed and the preparation and certification procedures applied for CRM development. In particular, some detailed data are presented for the most popular CRMs developed: brown rice grain, soybean powder and beef flake.

Comparative analysis of distributions of radioactive cesium and potassium and stable cesium, potassium, and strontium in brown rice grains contaminated with radioactive materials released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Abstract: The distributions of 137Cs, 134Cs, and 40K as well as stable Cs, K, and Sr in bran, germ, and endosperm of brown rice contaminated by fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were studied. It was found that 137Cs, 134Cs, and 40K were accumulated in germ at the highest concentration and the concentration ratios of Cs and K in bran, germ, and endosperm were approximately identical to one another, while the highest concentration of Sr was detected for bran. Possible chemical forms of the metal elements in rice grains were discussed based on their extraction behavior with water and MgCl2 aqueous solution.

Interprovincial Migration and Human Capital Formation in China

Abstract: We examine how the rising interprovincial migration of individuals with diverse educational backgrounds affected human capital formation in China in the 1990s. We find that gross outflow migration of those with higher and lower levels of education, respectively, has human capital incentive and disincentive effects. Our estimates suggest that the incentive effect eclipses the disincentive effect in general; however, a surge of migration, particularly among less educated groups, implies more of a disincentive effect in China in the 1990s. We also find that changes in the relative labor supply resulting from net outflow migration mitigate a direct brain drain by both encouraging and discouraging school enrolments.

Introduction of ToSTNeT-3 and Management Motivation for Choosing it

Abstract: This study discusses stock market share repurchase with prior announcement from the viewpoint of a firm management between February 2010 and December 2013 and focuses on share repurchase with prior announcement from among the three repurchase methods in the present TSE. The three types are 1) repurchase on auction market, 2) closing price transaction, and 3) Tokyo Stock Exchange Trading NeTwork System for off-auction own share repurchase transaction (ToSTNeT-3). This study develops hypotheses about the motivation for choosing a method of share repurchase, based on the particular Japanese conditions, and uses share repurchase data to test the hypotheses. We develop a new certainty and immediacy hypothesis associated with stock liquidity using examples from the American hypothesis (Bargeron, Kulchania, and Thomas, 2011). Moreover, we decide whether the block holder or management plays a leading role in choosing ToSTNeT-3 (block holder requirement type or management requirement type). If we can obtain evidence relating to selling share requirement of block holders, it is not necessary to analyze these in either testing hypotheses. However, because we cannot obtain such data, we test these hypotheses from available data. We find that of the about 781 share repurchases for firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), lower liquidity firms are likely to use ToSTNeT-3. This result supports a certainty and immediacy hypothesis. Furthermore, if we focus on the motivations of both the share seller and the buyer, we also find evidence that management chooses ToSTNeT-3 by accepting requests from block-holders (mainly general corporations other than financial institutions).

Self-Enforcing Family Rules, Marriage and the (Non)Neutrality of Public Intervention

Abstract: We demonstrate that the notion of a “family constitution” (self-enforcing, renegotiation-proof family norm) requiring adults to provide attention for elderly parents carries over from a world where sexually indifferentiated individuals reproduce by cell separation, to one where individuals differentiated by sex marry, have children and bargain over the allocation of domestic resources on condition that individual preferences are transmitted from parents to children, and having the same preferences is a criterion for marrying. We also show that policies are generally nonneutral (even if the individuals concerned are altruistically linked to one another) and affect the share of the adult population that are governed by family constitutions.

Effects of In-home Displays on Residential Electricity Consumption

Abstract: This chapter investigates how acquiring information from in-home displays (IHDs) affects electricity usage through attention and learning, using the experimental data on the frequency of consumers’ use of IHDs in summer 2012 and winter 2012/2013. Households in the treatment group could see a graph of their half-hourly electricity consumption in real time with IHDs at any time during the experiment. The immediate effect of IHDs is heightened household attention to information on electricity consumption, and the repetition of attention is expected to improve households’ capacity to process information in the long run. The estimation results of the daily time-of-day electricity consumption model indicate statistically significant and persistent effects of IHD use on residential electricity consumption. The increase in IHDs’ effects along with households’ experience of using IHDs implies that households’ capacity to process information could be improved by the repetition of attention to electricity information. Contrary to the energy-conservation literature, IHD usage was found to consistently increase residential electricity consumption because of a boomerang effect. However, an interactive effect of providing IHDs and critical peak pricing implies that providing an IHD together with pecuniary incentive schemes could be effective in energy conservation.

Regional Impacts of Energy Conservation Policies

Abstract: This chapter assesses the impact of applying critical peak pricing (CPP), in-home displays (IHDs), and home energy reports (HERs) to consumers living in the Kansai region based on the empirical results of field experiments presented in the previous chapters. For CPP, households with standard and all-electric contracts in the Kansai region are assumed to have paid peak prices ranging from 65 to 105 U.S. cents/kWh (1 U.S. dollar = 100 yen) for 16 days in summer 2013 and 21 days in winter 2013/2014. On these days, these households are assumed to use IHDs once a day. The combination of CPP and IHDs would have reduced residential electricity usage during the peak period by approximately 15.0 % in summer 2013 and 19.7 % in winter 2013/2014. Overall, the effects of CPP together with IHD usage on the peak electricity demand (kilowatt) would be far larger than the effects of the government’s call for a voluntary reduction. HERs are expected to reduce residential electricity consumption, thus, by applying HERs that include a peer comparison of electricity usage and personalized conservation tips to households contracting all-electric in the Kansai region in June 2013, a household would have saved 4.9–8.3 %. The cost effectiveness of HERs, which is defined as the implementation costs of HERs per electricity saving, would have been far larger in the region than that in the United States.

Mixing washington consensus with beijing consensus and corruption in africa

Abstract: In theory, trade intensity should positively affect the quality of domestic institutions and governance; the higher the economic openness, the lower the corruption. In practice, however, the growth of economic openness has not been accompanied by the expected improvements in corruption for 34 African countries between 1990 and 2009. This paper presents a plausible explanation for this conundrum. Results from panel data regression analyses indicate that a switch from trading with the Advanced Economies to trading with China increases the perceived corruption level. For instance, in a “representative” African country, a 10% point substitution from trading with the Advanced Economies to trading with China makes its ICRG corruption score decline—indicating increased corruption—by 29%.

Energy Conservation in Japan

Abstract: A serious concern about the supply shortage of electricity after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, together with a growing concern about global warming, has enhanced the need to promote energy conservation in Japan. The residential sector, which is the focus of this book, has increased its share of total energy consumption for the past two decades in Japan. Electricity represents approximately half of the residential energy consumption, and is a key factor in promoting energy conservation in the residential sector. Conventional policy measures such as energy taxes, subsidies, labeling, and technological standards for energy efficiency have contributed to the development and use of energy-efficient technologies, but additional policy interventions are necessary to further constrain electricity consumption. Innovative energy conservation instruments such as critical peak pricing, conservation requests, in-home displays, and home energy reports are expected to mitigate the increasing concern about electricity supply and CO2 emissions by constraining the residential usage of electricity in the future.

Consumer Response to Critical Peak Pricing of Electricity and Conservation Requests

Abstract: Using data from a series of field experiments for the fiscal years 2012–13, this chapter investigates consumers’ electricity use in response to critical peak pricing (CPP) and conservation requests (CRs). CPP stimulates consumers’ extrinsic motivation to conserve energy by applying higher prices to electricity usage during peak periods. This is a plausible approach since electricity pricing affects the monetary reward of conservation and higher prices create conservation that is more beneficial. By asking households to voluntarily reduce consumption during peak periods, CRs stimulate intrinsic motivations, such as altruism and the “warm glow,” which enhance consumers’ utility through energy conservation. The empirical results based on a linear approximate almost ideal demand system imply that both CPP and CRs contributed to reducing electricity usage during peak periods. In absolute terms, the elasticity of the peak electricity demand with respect to the electricity price at the sample average ranged from 0.157 to 0.389. These estimates of price elasticity exceeded those found in previous studies on CPP. CRs reduced electricity demand during peak hours by 4.0–5.1 %. These peak-reducing estimates of CRs were lower than the effects of public appeals to conserve energy in the United States.

Why Do Managers Adopt Japan-Specific Off-Auction Repurchases?

Abstract: This study discusses stock market share repurchase with prior announcement from the viewpoint of a firm management between February 2010 and December 2013 We find that of the about 781 share repurchases for firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), lower liquidity firms are likely to use the Tokyo Stock Exchange Trading NeTwork System for Off-Auction Own Share Repurchase Trading (ToSTNeT-3) This result supports a certainty and immediacy hypothesis Furthermore, if we focus on the motivations of both the share seller and the buyer, we also find evidence that management chooses ToSTNeT-3 by accepting requests from block-holders (mainly general corporations other than financial institutions)

The Prodigal Son: Does the Younger Brother Always Care for His Parents in Old Age?

Abstract: Studies have shown that the older sibling often chooses to live away from his elderly parents intending to free ride on the care provided by the younger child. In the presented model, we incorporate income effects and depict a different pattern frequently observed in Eastern countries; that is, the older sibling lives near his or her parents and takes care of them in old age. By generalizing the existing model, we show three cases of elderly parents being looked after by (1) the older sibling, (2) the younger sibling, and (3) both siblings, depending on the relative magnitude of the income effect and the strategic incentive for one sibling to free ride on the other. Our study also investigates the effect of changes in relative income on the level of total care received by parents.

Energy-Saving Effects of Home Energy Reports

Abstract: Using data drawn from a 2013 field experiment, this chapter examines the energy-saving effects of home energy reports (HERs). HERs provide consumers with energy conservation tips and compare consumers’ energy usage with that of similar neighbors. These comparisons categorized consumers as “energy-using,” “average,” or “energy-saving.” The energy usage comparisons provide social norm information, thereby inducing consumers to conserve energy. In contrast to the HER experiments in the United States that sent the report to households by mail, the staff visited each participating household and explained the HERs in detail during the experiment. The empirical results imply that the effects of HERs depended on electricity contracts. Therefore, HERs contributed to a reduction in electricity usage, in households with all-electric contracts, while the energy-saving effects were not found in households with standard contracts. The electricity-saving effect of HERs on the all-electric households ranged from 4.0–8.7 %, which was found in each category of electricity usage. Overall, there was no indication of so-called “boomerang” effects, which raise electricity usage of households categorized as “energy-saving.” The electricity-saving effect of HERs was found to become larger during the mornings and evenings of weekdays. This effect could persist over several weeks after providing HERs to some groups of households.