Working Hours Reduction and Endogenous Growth

This paper formulates an endogenous growth model and uses it to inquire into the long-run impact of work-sharing arrangements on economic growth. We show that the styles of wage contract, namely salary-style and hourly-style contracts, are a key factor in determining the long-run growth effects of working time reduction. If the labor market is overwhelmingly salaried arrangement, then the extent of wage flexibility is relatively low; as a consequence, a policy of reducing working hours will deteriorate economic growth. On the contrary, if hourly pay predominates, then the wage system tends to increase the degree of wage flexibility. Thus, a cut in working time may favor the economy’s growth rate.Working hours reduction, Endogenous growth

Food Ethics in Ancient China: A Confucian Perspective

Article

東アジア思想交流史 : 中国・日本・台湾を中心として [全文の要約]

関西大

Some Observations on the Study of the History of Cultural Interactions in East Asia

This paper attempts to incorporate the history of East Asian cultural interactions into the field of regional history, and toward that end proposes that certain subjects to be explored. The paper consists of five sections. Section 1 draws attention to the newer fields of regional history and global history, as distinct from national history, which occupied great academic interest in the twentieth century. Section 2 suggests a new way to study regional history: shifting our focus from the results of cultural interactions to the process, thus bringing about a paradigm shift in the study of the history of East Asian cultural interactions. Section 3 raises two problematiques in the proposed field of regional history: the mutual influence between self and other, and that between culture and the power structure. Section 4 proposes three types of exchange for further research: (1) exchanges of persons (especially professional intermediate agents), (2) exchanges of goods (especially books), and (3) exchanges of thought. The last section concludes that, with the rising of East Asian countries on the world stage in the twenty-first century, the state-centered style of historical study will be redirected to a broader East Asian perspective. By redefining the history of East Asian cultural interactions as regional history, we will be able to undertake the important task of revisiting and reconsidering on our traditional cultures

On Decontextualization and Recontextualization in East Asian Cultural Interactions: Some Methodological Reflections

In the history of cultural interaction in East Asia, decontextualization and recontextualization can readily be observed in the exchanges of texts, people, and ideas among the different regions. When a text, person, or idea is transmitted from its home country into another country, it is first decontextualized and then recontextualized into the new cultural environment. These processes of decontextualization and recontextualization I refer to as "a contextual turn." The present paper discusses methodological problems involved in the study of decontextualization and recontextualization. Section 1 introduces the paper. Section 2 then clarifies that "East Asia" is not an abstract term ranging over the countries of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, but rather refers to the dynamic, real process of concrete cultural interactions among these living cultures. On the dramatic stage of these interactions, China plays the role of the significant other to the many other actors. China is certainly not the sole conductor of the symphony of East Asia. Section 3 shows that the methodology of the history of ideas can be used when studying the phenomena of decontextualization. But one can easily become ensnared in what I call "the blind spot of textualism." Section 4 provides an analytic discussion of an effective methodology for studying recontextualization that involves looking at the concrete exchange of texts, people, and ideas against a specific historical background, and then highlighting the subjective emotions of the intermediate agents in these cultural exchanges as the agents navigate the processes of decontextualization and recontextualization. This paper concludes by stressing that East Asian cultural interactions are dynamic processes and not static structures. Therefore, in our study of the history of cultural interactions in East Asia, we must seek a dynamic equilibrium between textualism and contextualism, as well as between fact and value or emotion

東アジア思想交流史 －中国・日本・台湾を中心として [論文要旨及び審査の要旨]

関西大

Ruptured Tubo-Ovarian Abscess in a Postmenopausal Woman Presenting with Septic Shock: a Case Report and Literature Review

SummaryObjectiveTo report a case of a ruptured tubo-ovarian abscess which induced septic shock in a postmenopausal woman.Case ReportA 53-year-old postmenopausal woman was transferred to our emergency department for drowsiness, hypotension, and lower abdominal discomfort. Transabdominal sonography and computed tomography showed a large pelvic tumor over the left adnexa with some ascites. The uterus and other adnexa were unremarkable. Laboratory data, including blood count and electrolytes, showed leukocytosis and azotemia. Under suspicion of a ruptured adnexal tumor, laparotomy was performed and showed a large ruptured tuboovarian tumor arising from the left adnexa with intra-abdominal pus formation. Subtotal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy led to massive bleeding during manipulation of the left adnexa because of the necrotic change in the left infundibulopelvic vessels. Deep vein thrombosis and wound disruption occurred after the operation, but, fortunately, she recovered 1 month later.ConclusionTubo-ovarian abscesses in postmenopausal women are uncommon but should be kept in mind with a pelvic tumor accompanied by septic shock, as this may cause a terrible outcome and other sequelae