Asian Economic Journal最新文献

We conducted a standard gravity exercise using worldwide disaggregated trade data to shed light on the influence of digital technologies on network trade. We found that growing investment in industrial robots in relatively lagging economies, together with imported digitally deliverable services, is enhancing bilateral network trade flows in East Asia, but not necessarily in other parts of the world. This suggests that exploring complementarities between machines and human resources in production blocks supported by better service-link connectivity may allow newly developed economies to retain and expand the international division of labor.

This paper estimates a translog cost function for 29 Chinese provinces between 1979 and 2018. The results imply that investment in public infrastructure reduces costs in all provinces. Comparing the estimated rate of return to infrastructure with the rate of return to private capital, our results indicate underinvestment for the initial period after the economic reforms; however, after 2010 our results show overinvestment in infrastructure. Infrastructure capital is a substitute input to labor, private capital and intermediate inputs. Finally, public infrastructure growth contributes positively to labor and total factor productivity growth, but the effect is small. The growth of private capital and intermediate inputs are the most important factors that boost the growth of labor productivity.

This article investigates whether supervisors can significantly enhance their subordinates' performance using a five-waves panel dataset from a medium-sized Japanese firm comprising around 400 employees. The dataset includes all regular non-managerial employees working in one manufacturing company. About 40 supervisors were matched to their subordinates, and the evaluation outcomes were used to evaluate the worker performance. The results showed that supervisor effects were heterogeneous, displayed a one-year lag, and lasted for two years. We proved the existence of the supervisor effect on current performance, by using current supervisor dummies or past supervisor dummies. Irrespective of the supervisor being switched, the effect of the past supervisor on workers’ current performance continues to exist. It was also found that these effects remained significant, even when workers were assigned new/different supervisors.

The aim of the present paper was to determine how small government policies have changed the management of Japanese prefectural museums since 2006. To reconstruct the budget positions of local governments, the Koizumi Government advocated a policy of ‘small’ government and cuts in the costs of public facilities. One example is the introduction of the designated manager system (DMS) into museums. The DMS is a form of new public management, enabling private managers to manage public facilities. Using stochastic frontier analysis, this paper investigates the impact of the introduction of the DMS on the efficiency of museums.

The present study examines the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm value, and the effects of corporate governance code revisions on the relationship. We examine this relationship for: (i) a high-income country, Japan; (ii) middle-income countries China, Malaysia and Thailand; and (iii) low-income countries India and Indonesia. We use the Heckman two-stage sample selection bias approach for the empirical analysis. We find that Japanese stakeholder CSR and environmental CSR have a smaller positive effect on firm value compared to the middle-income countries, but we do not find any statistically significant association for the low-income countries. In addition, we find that only Japanese corporate governance code revisions significantly contribute to the positive relationship between CSR and firm value, which concurs with the new recommendations documented in the revised codes of corporate governance. The present study reveals that foreign major shareholders matter to the value creation of CSR in Japan and the middle-income countries of China, Malaysia and Thailand.

This study examines the influence of trade liberalization on income distribution among different household groups in Vietnam using the dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework. To accomplish this objective, we developed a multi-sector, multi-household dynamic CGE model and the corresponding social accounting matrix for Vietnam. Our simulation results show that in the long run, all household groups can enjoy an improvement in their welfare because the increase in the budget for consumption of all groups is large enough to outweigh the negative effect of changes in consumption prices. We also find that while trade liberalization is positively associated with economic growth and national welfare, it also increases the income disparities between rich and poor households, between rural and urban areas, and among rural people as well as among urban people.

This study investigated how the various characteristics of Homo economicus (intellectual ability, self-control, selfishness, fairness and pursuit of monetary gain) correlate with individual performance. We adopted income and happiness as measures of individual performance. Using large-scale survey data from Japan and the USA, we found that: (i) generally, Homo economicus is an ideal person from the perspective of economic success; (ii) Homo economicus has many traits that make her/him unhappy; (iii) intellectual ability is a strong trait of Homo economicus for both economic success and happiness; and (iv) the results for Japan and the USA are quite similar.

From the perspective of behavioral economics, this study uses a scenario simulation experiment and the ordered-probit econometric model to empirically analyze the influence of egoistic and altruistic bequest motives of the elderly on willingness to participate in reverse mortgages. The findings are as follows. (i) When controlling for the demographic characteristics of the elderly, the marginal probability of their willingness to participate in reverse mortgages is influenced by two constraints: the egoistic bequest motive and the altruistic bequest motive. However, compared with the egoistic bequest motive, the altruistic bequest motive more strongly affects such willingness. (ii) Improving satisfaction with community old-age services can significantly weaken the effects of the egoistic bequest motive on the willingness to participate in reverse mortgages, generally by weakening dependence on family old-age care. However, property tax implementation can significantly reduce the constraint effects of altruistic bequest motives on such willingness, mainly by affecting the cost of housing inheritance to the children. (iii) To increase demand for reverse mortgages, financial institutions should constantly innovate and optimize the operation modes of reverse mortgages to more efficiently cope with the influence of egoistic and altruistic bequest motives of the elderly. Government departments should continuously promote property tax reform and improve the quality of community services for the aged to indirectly promote willingness to participate in reverse mortgages.