Price shocks in regional markets: Japan's great Kantō Earthquake of 1923

Japan’s Great Kantō Earthquake of September 1st 1923 devastated the area around Tokyo and the country’s main port of Yokohama. This paper uses the earthquake as a case study to inform our understanding of the economics of disasters and the history of market integration. It seeks to test two main assumptions: firstly, that shifting demand and supply curves consequent on a disaster will have some impact on prices; and secondly, that any local changes in the disaster region are likely to be diffused across a wider geographical area. We make use of a unique monthly wholesale price dataset for a number of cities across Japan, and our analysis suggests three main findings: that price changes in the affected areas immediately following the disaster were in most cases reflected in price changes in Japan’s provincial cities; that cities further away from the devastation witnessed smaller price changes than those nearer to the affected area; and that the observed pattern of price changes reflects the regional heterogeneity identified by scholars who have worked on market integration in Japan

Honpō kōgyō no sūsei.

Imprint varies.Vols. for 1939-1940, 1941-1945 issued in combined form; information for the years 1938-1940 found in 1946 issue.Mode of access: Internet.Issued by: Nōshōmushō Kōzankyoku, 1906-1923; by: Shōkōshō Kōzankyoku, 1924-1939/40; by: Shigenchō Chōkan Kanbō Tōkeika, 1941/45-1949; by: Tsūshō Sangyōshō Chōsa Tōkeibu Kōgyō Tōkeika, 1950-1951; by: Tsūshō Sangyōshō Daijin Kanbō Chōsa Tōkeibu, 1962-<1972>; by: Keizai Sangyōshō Keizai Sangyō Seisakukyoku Chōsa Tōkeibu, <2004->Latest issue consulted: Heisei 17-nenban [2005], published in 2006.Description based on: Taishō 5-nen [1916]; title from cover