"Productivity, Capital Utilization, and Intra-firm Diffusion: A Study of Steel Refining Furnaces"

This paper examines the intra-firm diffusion of new technology in the Japanese steel industry. The introduction of the basic oxygen furnace was the greatest breakthrough in steel refining in the last century. Using unique panel data concerning capital utiliza- tion, the paper estimates total factor productivity by technology type, and associates the estimate with intra-firm diffusion. Estimation results reveal that the productivity difference between the old and new technologies plays an important role. The paper also finds that in operation, the old technology can better respond to changes in market demand, which brings about counter-cyclicality in the measured productivity.

"Technology Adoption, Learning by Doing, and Productivity: A Study of Steel Refining Furnaces"

Models of vintage-capital learning by doing predict an initial fall in productivity after the introduction of new technology. This paper examines the impact of new technology on plant-level productivity in the Japanese steel industry in the 1950s and 1960s. The introduction of the basic oxygen furnace was the greatest breakthrough in the steel refining process in the last century. We estimate production function, taking account of the differences in technology between the refining furnaces owned by a plant. Estimation results indicate that a more productive plant was likely to adopt the new technology, and that the adoption would be timed to occur right after the peak of the productivity level achieved with the old technology. We have found that the adoption of the new technology primarily accounted not only for the industry's productivity slowdown in the early 1960s, but also for the industry's remarkable growth in the post-war period. These results are robust to endogeneity in the choice of input and technology.

"Matrix Exponential Stochastic Volatility with Cross Leverage"

This paper examines the economic impact of re-invention - the degree to which an innovation is modified by user - on industry growth and productivity. The paper focuses on two re-inventions made by a Japanese steel company; these inventions improved the productive efficiency of Austrian-made refining technology, namely, basic oxygen furnace (BOF). Results obtained from the plant-level production-function estimation indicate that re-inventions account for approximately 30 percent of the total factor productivity of the BOF, substantially promoting the dissemination of the BOF technology. Our simulation analysis indeed reveals that re-inventions contributed to steel output growth by about 14 percent. This paper also documents that innovating companies played the role of a "lead user" in developing and disseminating their re-invented technologies.

An Approach to Environmental Evaluation using Binary Data of the Butterfly Community on Environment Preservation Areasand Natural Parks in Kagawa Prefecture

本研究はチョウ類群集の存在･不在2元データ(binary data)を利用して, クラスター分析と数量化IV類による環境評価を試みたものである. 香川県にある9つの環境保全地域, 1つの町立森林公園および県立自然公園内の3地域で, 1992年から1996年の間に採集と目視による調査を行い, 生息チョウ類の目録が作成された. 調査した13地域で確認できたチョウ類は, 8科74種であった. 調査地域の平均標高および面積と種数との間には明瞭な相関関係は見られなかった. 目録は存在･不在の2元データなので, SφrensenのCs係数を1から減じた1-Cs係数と不一致係数(いずれか一方の地域で確認された種数/全調査地域で確認された種数)を, 種構成の重複度を表す非類似度行列として多変量解析をおこなった. クラスター分析と数量化IV類のいずれの手法でも, 13の調査地域は3つのグループに分類することができ, グループの構成地域もほぼ同じ結果であった. 調査地域の植生と多変量解析による分類結果を比戟して, 本評価手法の妥当性を検討した.An approach to evaluate the environment using cluster analysis and quantification theory type IV based on the binary data of a butterfly community was tried. The investigation to make an inventory of butterflies was done at 9 environment preservation areas, one forest park, and 3 survey areas in the natural parks in Kagawa Prefecture from 1992 to 1996 by collecting and observation methods. The number of butterfly species found in this investigation was 74 species belonging to 8 families. The number of species found in each survey area was not related to either the altitude or the area. The Sφrensen coefficient (Cs) and disagreement coefficient (the number of species found in either area)/(the number of all species found in 13 survey areas) was used to compare the community composition between 2 areas by the number of species. Thirteen survey areas were classified into three groups by cluster analysis using the dissimilarity matrix of the 1-Cs coefficient and disagreement coefficient. The grouping by quantification theory type IV agreed with the result of cluster analysis. The validity of application of these multivariate analyses for the structural analysis of butterfly communities is discussed by comparing with the grouping from the flora of survey areas.Article環動昆 12(2): 77-89 (2001)journal articl

International Seminar, 2013 of Korea Forest Research Institute and Laboratory of AFC Insect Ecology, Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University -Endangered butterflies of Japan and Korea-: Preface

Article信州大学農学部紀要 50（1-2）: 21-21(2014)departmental bulletin pape