TAK1-dependent autophagy: A suppressor of fatty liver disease and hepatic oncogenesis.

In addition to regulating the activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κB and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), TGF-β activated kinase 1 (TAK1) also upregulates the activation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and autophagy. In the liver, TAK1-mediated autophagy plays a role in preventing excessive lipid accumulation induced by starvation and fat overload. TAK1-mediated autophagy and inhibition of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) prevent liver fibrosis and tumor development

Effects of rotation scheme on fishing behaviour with price discrimination and limited durability: Theory and evidence.

This paper examines how rotation arrangement between two groups of fishers with different institutional arrangements affects fishing behaviour and economic outcomes in a particular economic environment characterised by price discrimination and product durability. In one group, fishers cooperate and maximise the extraction of rents, while members in the second group behave non-cooperatively. Applying a model of alternating duopoly, we show that the cooperating group behaves like a price discriminating monopolist and tends to uphold prices. When the two groups rotate fishing days the cooperating group tends to produce more, which prevents the non-cooperating group from unprofitable demand pre-emption

Pyramid Business Groups in East Asia: Insurance or Tunneling?

A business group with a pyramid ownership structure is a prevalent form in developing countries. I show that the propping up function of pyramid groups exists only in countries without good investor protection where minority shareholders could be expropriated with low cost. A pyramid business group is not insurance mechanism for all group firms. My predictions are supported by the data on East Asian firms in 1990s. Additionally, I find that the pyramid ownership does not affect the valuation of non-distressed firms. This might be the reason that the outsider invested in the group bottom firms before the Asian Crisis.Pyramid ownership, Business group, Tunneling, Investor Protection

Do Social Preferences Increase Productivity? Field experimental evidence from fishermen in Toyama Bay

We provide a reason for the wider economics profession to take social preferences, a concern for the outcomes achieved by other reference agents, seriously. Although we show that student measures of social preference elicited in an experiment have little external validity when compared to measures obtained from a field experiment with a population of participants who face a social dilemma in their daily lives (i.e., team production), we also find strong links between the social preferences of our field participants and their productivity at work