Although the importance of a growth strategy is undisputed, the quantitative effects of individual policy measures on economic growth rate rarely have been reported. This paper, from the viewpoint of the users of academic research, overviews the quantitative impacts of frequently advocated,...

In 2009, the European Union (EU) introduced a regulation prohibiting the importation and marketing of seal products except for those originated from the hunts by indigenous people or from the hunts for maritime resource management. The measure relates to animal welfare as it is concerned about...

The Japanese government's Abenomics policy has been beneficial mainly for some large companies thus far, and policies that also can spread the benefits to local areas and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are needed. It is regretful that no such model exists in Japan, thus I conducted a...

This paper derives a new monthly index of real economic activity for Japan for the period 1960 to 2013. The index shows a similar behavior to that of the real gross domestic product (GDP). The correlation coefficient based on annual data and quarterly data is 0.94 and 0.90, respectively....

While globalization of economic activity and development of information technology have brought us better living standards, they also may increase the diffusion of risks such as financial crises, natural disasters, and terrorism. Under these circumstances, the government of each country is...

Inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in Japan is expected to contribute to the Japanese economy, but an empirical analysis on its causes and consequences has not been widely conducted partly because of a lack of comprehensive panel data on foreign firms. This paper seeks to construct a panel...

This paper surveys the recent literature that empirically examines foreign direct investment (FDI) in Japan. This paper focuses on the quantitative evidence on the following questions: 1) Did FDI in Japan accelerate economic growth? 2) What are limiting factors for FDI in Japan? 3) Are there any...

There have been very few World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement cases based on the Agreement of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement). While the rulings of the <i>European Communities-Measures Affecting Asbestos and Products Containing Asbestos</i> and <i>European Communities-Trade...</i>

While the Word Trade Organization's (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter "TBT Agreement") has long remained unused as a legal basis of the WTO dispute settlement, the Appellate Body made three landmark decisions in 2012: <i>US-Clove Cigarettes</i>, <i>US-Tuna II</i>, and <i>US-COOL</i>. This paper...

This paper examines <i>US-COOL</i>, which is the third, landmark Appellate Body's ruling under the Word Trade Organization (WTO)'s Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (hereinafter "TBT Agreement") and came out in 2012.The case addressed two key obligations of the TBT Agreement (i.e., Articles 2.1...