Liquidity Constraint and Household Portfolio in Japan

In this paper, we analyze the financial asset selection behavior of Japanese households. Especially, we focus on whether or not liquidity constraint decreases the amount of a householdfs risky assets. To investigate this, we first empirically examine which types of household suffer from liquidity constraint. Then, based on the probability obtained from this first stage, we use the Tobit model to estimate the risky asset ratio (=risky asset/total financial asset), and examine the relationship between liquidity constraint and household portfolio. Our results show that the more households suffer from liquidity constraint, the less the households hold risky assets. This is consistent with previous empirical research on Italian households, implemented by Guiso et al.(1996). Our research suggests that the Japanese post-war financial system, which has provided money primarily to the industrial sector rather than the household sector (e.g. consumer loans), might lower the amount of risky assets held by Japanese households.risky asset ratio, liquidity constraint, household portfolio, saving rate

Determinants of Profit in the Broadcasting Industry | Evidence from Japanese Micro Data|

The operating areas of each terrestrial broadcasting station in Japan are geographically divided by a licensing system and form oligopolies in each of their respective markets. These institutional constraints define the market structure, and as a result, affect the business performance of the broadcasting industry. The primary purpose for regulation is based on the gMedia Ownership Rule,h a rule designed for preserving gplurality,h gdiversityh and hlocalismh of stations. Similar rules exist in many countries, but benchmarks differ. To this end, if the regulative authority introduced a new regulation framework, it might be useful to improve the financial foundation of the licensed stations, thus preserving the original purpose of the rule. With the rapid progress of digital technology and the increasingly diversified selection of media types, the government needs to urgently review Japanfs old regulations with the aim of giving more freedom in the operation of terrestrial stations and so promote voluntary restructuring. Based on the above viewpoints, we implemented an econometric analysis with respect to factors that affect on the business performance (especially on profit) of each station. We focus on the terrestrial broadcasting industry because it plays a central role in the Japanese broadcasting system. As a result, we ascertained the following points. (1) Structural parameters: market share of each station has a positive correlation with profit, although market concentration appears to have no correlation. (2) Geographical parameters: the number of households per station and the income per household have positive correlations. (3) Business parameters: the aired ratio of self-produced TV programs has a positive correlation with revenue, although it has a negative correlation with profit. It is said that geographical environment is quite important for business performance in the broadcasting industry. This hypothesis is strongly supported by our results. Therefore deregulation and subsequent voluntary rearrangement may reinforce the operating basis of each station.Terrestrial Broadcasting Station, Determinants of profit, Principle of Media Ownership Rule, Audience Share, Oligopoly

An Analysis on Market Structure of Broadcast Service – Issues on Optimal Level of Channel Variety –

Unlike general goods, broadcasting service is financed not only by consumer’s direct payment but also by advertisement revenue. In other words, broadcasting service is supported by direct and indirect financial sources. However, rate of dependence on those financial sources are different by each media type; Terrestrial broadcasting carrier primarily depends on advertisement revenue while cable TV carrier and satellite carrier, which is called as pay-TV primarily depend on payment from audience in addition to small amount of advertisement revenue. In this paper, we examine broadcast market, where carriers with different financial sources compete in the market, and analyze market performance as a result of competition. Especially, we focus on the effect of competition in the mixed market which includes advertising supported media and subscription fee supported media. We made economic model and analyze the difference on several types of market. Our principle results of Case III, the market that an advertisement supported carrier and a subscription supported carrier compete in the market, are as follows;. (1) The greater the substitutability is, the number of channels supplied by advertisement supported media increases while those supplied by subscription fee supported carrier decreases. (2) Total number of channels supplied by advertisement supported carrier and subscription fee supported carrier is equal to the number of channels supplied by an advertisement supported carrier (Case II). (3) Total TV watching time of Case III is equal to Case II. (4) Because the amount of payment by consumer increases compared to Case II, consumer surplus decreases. General economic model predicts that the increase of the number of entrants brings the increase of consumer surplus. However, in our model, we show here that the increase of the number of entrants does not necessarily bring the increase of consumer surplus.broadcast service; market performance; consumer welfare; advertisement supported /subscription fee supported media

Financial Instability and Life Insurance Demand

This paper estimates private life insurance and Kampo demand functions using household-level data provided by the Postal Services Research Institute. The results show that income, children, pension and knowledge factors have a significant effect on the decision as to whether each household purchases life insurance products. The amount of income and financial assets also appear to have significant effect on the purchase of private life insurance and Kampo. However, pension and bankruptcy experience appear only to have an impact on Kampo, while aged (less than 40) and occupation (civil servant) factors affect only private life insurance. Dummy variables representing comparison, knowledge, and bankruptcy experience did not have any significant effect on decisions concerning private life insurance. Simultaneous estimations are also used to examine why households that already have one type of life insurance product (e.g. private life insurance) purchase the other type of life insurance product (e.g. Kampo). The results indicate that income, children, and bankruptcy experience variables are not significant factors when households with private life insurance product decide to purchase additional Kampo. The results also show that a knowledge dummy has a negative impact on additional purchases.life insurance demand, financial instability, sample selection model

Identification problems of muon and electron events in the Super-Kamiokande detector

In the measurement of atmospheric nu_e and nu_mu fluxes, the calculations of the Super Kamiokande group for the distinction between muon-like and electronlike events observed in the water Cerenkov detector have initially assumed a misidentification probability of less than 1 % and later 2 % for the sub-GeV range. In the multi-GeV range, they compared only the observed behaviors of ring patterns of muon and electron events, and claimed a 3 % mis-identification. However, the expressions and the calculation method do not include the fluctuation properties due to the stochastic nature of the processes which determine the expected number of photoelectrons (p.e.) produced by muons and electrons. Our full Monte Carlo (MC) simulations including the fluctuations of photoelectron production show that the total mis-identification rate for electrons and muons should be larger than or equal to 20 % for sub-GeV region. Even in the multi-GeV region we expect a mis-identification rate of several % based on our MC simulations taking into account the ring patterns. The mis-identified events are mostly of muonic origin.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Analysis of Subscription Demand for Pay-TV

In this paper, we will conduct an analysis from an empirical perspective concerning broadcasting demand behavior and characteristics. More concretely, we will assume three options (subscription patterns), namely, nonsubscription, cable TV subscription, and subscription to broadcasting services via communications satellites (CS), and we will conduct an analysis of broadcasting service demand behavior using a discrete choice model. According to our result, price elasticity is low for cable TV and CS subscribers, which is a contrast to the United States, where price elasticity for paid broadcasting is high. It shows that factors other than price continue to have a strong influence on demand behavior (subscription choices) in the Japanese market for regular and paid broadcasting (the multichannel market) and that the market has not yet entered the phase of price competition between cable TV and CS broadcasting. With regard to channel number elasticity, the figures are high for basic channel service and low for special channel services. This indicates that basic services are an important concern for viewers. This suggests that, in line with reports that the spread of cable TV in the United States was promoted by difficulty in receiving terrestrial broadcasts, basic channel services may be more important than special channels as keys to the spread of paid broadcasting in Japan.Subscription demand, Broadcasting service, Pay-TV, Discrete choice model, Price/Channel elasticity

Platform Competition in Pay-TV Market

In this paper, we undertake an empirical analysis of the current Japanese pay-TV market, where cable TV carriers and CS digital satellite carriers are the main players. After examining the factors for subscribing to pay-TV and the competitive situation in the market, we have the following findings; (1) Cable TV carriers promote high value-added service provision, such as bundling internet access, and these activities result in competitive superiority over CS carriers. (2) Cable TV carriers receiving bigger investment from local governments tend to gain higher rates of subscription, although they provide smaller numbers of channels with a low charge. (3) The number of terrestrial broadcasting channels which are transmitted via pay-TV carriers can have a large impact on competitive advantage when getting subscribers in the pay-TV market.Platform Competition, Cable Television, Communication Satellite, Pay-TV, subscriber penetration, high-value added service