722 research outputs found
Japanese foreign direct investment : recent trends, determinants, and prospects
In the late 1980s, Japan became the biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world. The main beneficiaries of the rapid increase in investment flows were industrial countries, but the developing world (especially East Asia and Latin America) also received substantial inflows. In East Asia, the newly industrial economies (NIEs) of Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan (China) were, at first, production bases for Japanese manufacturing in the 1970s and early 1980s. But in the late 1980s, these countries became new, expanding consumer markets, attracting huge Japanese investments in the tertiary (service) sector, while investments in manufacturing shrank rapidly because of rising labor costs. The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) and China became Japan's new production base. In Latin America (mostly small Caribbean countries) Japan's focus is almost exclusively on tax havens. Globally, Japan's investments in the secondary (manufacturing) and service sectors of the major Latin American nations are only marginal. Japanese investment flows declined drastically after 1989, mostly because of the depressed global and domestic economy, after rapid asset price deflation in Japan. Hardest hit by the decline were the United States and Europe. Japanese FDI flows to developing countries also declined, but less. The biggest losers were the NIEs and the Caribbean tax havens. The biggest losers were the NIEs and the Caribbean tax havens. Japanese investments continued to grow in other Latin American countries and, even more, in the ASEAN and China. Japanese investors sharply reduced tertiary sector investments, primarily geared to maintaining or expanding markets. Investments in the secondary sector, making use of low-cost production, continued to expand. This trend is expected to continue in the near future, with FDI flows declining further, albeit more slowly. Low-wage production countries such as China and Indonesia will attract an increasing share. Investment to expand markets in the industrial countries and the NIEs are likely to decline. But medium-term prospects for Japanese FDI in developing countries are brighter, as economic recovery and continuing current account surpluses in Japan will lead to a resumption of active foreign investment by Japanese multinational corporations.Foreign Direct Investment,Environmental Economics&Policies,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Economic Theory&Research,Trade and Regional Integration
Collective knowledge and collective strategy : a function of symbiotic knowledge for business-university alliances (Working paper series ; no.57)
This paper combines the concept of Collective Knowledge with the one of Collective Strategy, which will be to give new foundations on the theory of knowledge management.Depending on four types of Collective Strategies, corres ponding types of Collective Knowledge is created. One type of Collective Knowledge, Symbiotic Knowledge, stands out as it embodies a new dimension for problem solving by a usage of collaboration with different field of expertise. The applicability of Symbiotic Knowledge is exemplified by the business-university-government alliances in Toyama, Japan. The selection of who to invite as participants plays a decisively important role in knowledge creation. The symbiotic knowledge creation is limited by those who are allowed to participate in the organization. In this process, the coordinators play the most important role for the performance of inter-organizational alliances
The Specific Sagittal Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Intradural Extra-Arachnoid Lumbar Disc Herniation
Intradural extra-arachnoid lumbar disc herniation is a rare disease. Few MRI findings have been reported. We experienced an intradural extra-arachnoid lumbar disc herniation. We reviewed the preoperative MRI findings. Lumbar spine T2-weighted sagittal MRI showed that one line of the ventral dura was divided into two by a disc herniation. We speculated that the two lines comprised the dura and arachnoid and that a disc herniation existed between them. We believe that division of the ventral dural line on T2-weighted sagittal images is a characteristic finding of intradural extra-arachnoid lumbar disc herniation. The division of ventral dural line seemed to be a “Y,” and, thus, we called it the “Y sign.” The “Y sign” may be useful for diagnosing intradural extra-arachnoid lumbar disc herniation
Sociocultural Responses to COVID-19 and the Theory of Hegemonic Stability
This study examines the international political impact of COVID-19 and looks into the relationship between hegemonic stability theory and pandemics. Focusing on the sociocultural response to COVID-19, a factor decomposition was carried out on the coronavirus disease 2019-20 infection rates and mortality rates in 44 countries. An international comparison excluding vaccination periods reveals sociocultural tendencies in infection rate and mortality mapping that can be called regimes in health care policy. Several Latin American and Middle Eastern middle-income countries record similarly high rates of mortality. In contrast, Western countries tend to show low mortality but high infection rates. With the notable examples of the United States and Belgium, most Western countries are mapped in this cluster. Several Asian countries are mapped in the cluster of low infection and low mortality rates. While the establishment of the World Health Organization (WHO) is considered an international public good, regulating people’s behavior is difficult and suppling vaccines in developing countries is likely to encounter difficulties. Vaccination is a supply of public goods, but the supply needs to be carried out by private companies for the construction of a vaccination supply chain. Though they are supporting WHO and encouraging vaccinations, the hegemonic powers are still likely to experience economic stagnation as an outcome of the pandemic
Comparison of the Choice Effect and the Distance Effect in a Number-Comparison Task by fMRI
Behavioral and neurophysiological studies of numerical comparisons have shown a “distance effect,” whereby smaller numerical distances between two digits are associated with longer response times and higher activity in the parietal region. In this experiment, we introduced a two-choice condition (between either the smaller/lower or the larger/higher of two digits) and examined its effect on brain activity by fMRI. We observed longer response times and greater activity with the choice of smaller numbers (“choice effect”) in several brain regions including the right temporo–parietal region, (pre)cuneus, superior temporal sulcus, precentral gyrus, superior frontal gyrus, bilateral insula, and anterior cingulate cortex. These regions correspond to areas that have been suggested to play a role in attentional shift and response conflict. However, brain activity associated with the distance effect disappeared even though the behavioral distance effect remained. Despite the absence of the distance effect on brain activity, several areas changed activity in relation to response time, including regions that were reported to change activity in both a distance effect and a reaction-time-related manner. The result suggested that the level of task load may change the activity of regions that are responsible for magnitude detection
Sunspot Observations by Hisako Koyama: 1945-1996
The sunspot record is the only observational tracer of solar activity that
provides a fundamental, multi-century reference. Its homogeneity has been
largely maintained with a succession of long-duration visual observers. In this
paper, we examine observations of one of the primary reference sunspot
observers, Hisako Koyama. By consulting original archives of the National
Museum of Nature and Science of Japan (hereafter, NMNS), we retrace the main
steps of her solar-observing career, from 1945 to 1996. We also present the
reconstruction of a full digital database of her sunspot observations at the
NMNS, with her original drawings and logbooks. Here, we extend the availability
of her observational data from 1947-1984 to 1945-1996. Comparisons with the
international sunspot number (version 2) and with the group sunspot number
series show a good global stability of Koyama's observations, with only
temporary fluctuations over the main interval 1947-1982. Identifying drawings
made by alternate observers throughout the series, we find that a single
downward baseline shift in the record coincides with the partial contribution
of replacement observers mostly after 1983. We determine the correction factor
to bring the second part (1983-1996) to the same scale with Koyama's main
interval (1947-1982). We find a downward jump by 9% after 1983, which then
remains stable until 1996. Overall, the high quality of Koyama's observations
with her life-long dedication leaves a lasting legacy of this exceptional
personal achievement. With this comprehensive recovery, we now make the
totality of this legacy directly accessible and exploitable for future
research.Comment: Main text 31 pages, references 6 pages, 13 figures, 3 tabes, accepted
for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 202
Endosonography-Guided Pancreatic Duct Drainage for Chronic Pancreatitis: A Case Report and Review
A 50-year-old man was admitted to our department, complaining of epigastric pain and high fever. CT revealed a pseudocyst at the pancreatic head with upstream dilatation of the pancreatic duct (PD) and fluid collection surrounding the pancreas. Endosonography-guided PD drainage (ESPD) was performed because of unsuccessful ERCP. With a curved linear array echoendoscope, a 7.2 F catheter was placed in the PD. Laboratory data showed improvement in a few days and revealed disappearance of the fluid collection. Ten days after ESPD, a 7 F stent was placed in the PD via the puncture tract across the papilla of Vater followed by transpapillary replacement with a 10 F stent. CT showed a reduction in diameter of the PD and disappearance of the pseudocyst. ESPD is a feasible and useful procedure in selected patients with chronic pancreatitis showing stenosis of the main PD when transpapillary approach is impossible
- …