This paper considers likelihood-based testing of the null hypothesis of m0 components against the alternative of m0+1 components in a finite mixture model. The number of components is an important parameter in the applications of finite mixture models. Still, testing the number of components has...

How much do tax credits affect firms' R&D activities? What are the mechanisms? Few empirical studies directly examine the effect of tax credit policies on firms' R&D investments and the importance of financial constraints on the policy effects on R&D. This paper examines the effect of the...

Since its enactment in 1974 until its easing in the 1990s, the Large-Scale Retail Store Law (<i>Daikibo Kouri Tenpo Ho</i>) strictly regulated the entry of large-scale retailers in cities in Japan to protect local small and medium incumbent stores. This paper investigates the effect of large-scale...

Based on our research work of 1998, we discuss Chinese manufacturing performance from multilateral perspective in 1980-2004 through performing the comparison of labour productivity between China and its trade partners so as to better understand the problems of RMB exchange rate. We talk about...

It is widely recognized that taking cointegration relationships into consideration is useful in forecasting cointegrated processes. However, there are a few practical problems when forecasting large cointegrated processes using the well-known vector error correction model. First, it is hard to...

Using Japanese firm-level data for the period from 1994-2002, this paper examines whether a firm is chosen as an acquisition target based on its productivity level, profitability and other characteristics and whether the performance of Japanese firms that were acquired by foreign firms improves...