The research project has empirically studied intra-household resource allocation and intergenerational transmission of economic status. Analyses using household micro-data showed following results. (A) As regards intra-household resource allocation between the couple, an increase of contribution by the wife to the household income increases consumption ratio for the wife, and also reduces her housework share. (B) The degree of intergenerational transmission of income is rated as moderate in an international comparison, and educational spending contributes 40-50% of the transmission. (C) Low-income family tends to receive more financial aid from parents conditional on parental income. Thus, parental aid tends to be progressive

The research project addressed effects of economic fluctuations and inflation on determination of assets' distributions. We empirically analyzed the Japanese data, relying upon some theoretical models.Concerning effects of economic fluctuations, we have three publications:“Industrial Spillover of Productivities through R&D and Intermediate Materials: A Case of Road"; “Business Cycle and How of Funds"; “On Determinants of Educational Expenditures by the Japanese Households: Using the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers."The first paper identifies effects of R&D and intermediate materials on productivities'spillover among industries. The second paper estimates the VAR models where each financial item held by each economic agent (households, corporations or government) is included with some aggregates of economic fluctuations and monetary policy's instruments. The third one gives us some evidence upon how educational expenditures for children's human capital depend upon parents' educational backgrounds, incomes earned or assets held.We also have another two papers upon effects of inflation. A paper entitled as “A Note on the Robustness of the Tobin Effect in Incomplete Market" constructs a model of the Tobin effect where moderate level of inflation can cause an increase in social welfare. The other paper empirically analyzes announcement effects of public or private signals upon asset prices, taking as examples announcements of the Consumer Price Index, the Index for Industrial Production, or monetary policy meetings of the Bank of Japan (“Market Communication: A Case of the Bank of Japan after the New Law")

We wrote the final report in this year as the last year fix our project which consisted of ten chapters and some appendices. Each chapter was very useful and significant because it was written along with the title project and included some original ideas. The final report was organized as followings : Establishing a trade model of an international duopoly that consists of a state-owned firm in China and a private firm in a capitalistic country, this paper examines the world economic implications of the economic liberalization policy of China that releases a Chinese state-owned firm from the burden of output quota. It assumes, considering the new WTO, that while the capitalistic country does not adopt any trade policies, China promotes such a liberalization policy. It first analyzes the effects of China's economic liberalization on industry trade and then discusses its optimal level. The main findings are that China's liberalization policy also serves as a strategic trade policy, and that perfect economic liberalization is not always best for China. Furthermore, we explore how creation of a semi-public joint venture by the multinational firm and the host-country's government affects the welfare of the host country and the profits earned by the multinational firm. As is suggested by the recently developed theory of mixed oligopoly, the semi-public joint venture firm takes account of the host-country's welfare when deciding on its output and has an incentive to produce more than the purely private firm. This commitment effect enhances the consumers' surplus and the profits earned by the joint-venture firm, benefiting both the host country and the multinational firm.Introduction Prefatory Note(by ISHII, Yasunori)Chapter 1 Features and Purposes of This Project(by ISHII, Yasunori)Chapter 2 Perfect Economic Liberalization in China and Its Impacts(by ISHII, Yasunori)Chapter 3 On Optimal Export Policies in an International Duopoly Consisting of a Labor-Managed Firm and a Capitalistic-Private Firm(by ISHII, Yasunori)Chapter 4 International Oligopolistic Market and Strategic Trade Policies in a Developing Country-Unemployment in a Developing Country and Optimal Export Policies in a Developed Country-(by DAITOH, Ichiroh & ISHII, Yasunori)Chapter 5 Strategic Regulation on Inward Direct Investment-Economic Effects of Creating a Semi-Public Joint Venture-(by KIYONO, Kazuharu)Chapter 6 Financial Reform in China-A Study by the Evolutionary Game Theory-(by Suzuki, Kumi & ISHII, Yasunori)Chapter 7 Financial Reform in China-A Study by the Experimental Economics-(Suzuki, Kumi, Satoh, Ayano & Matsuyae, Taisuke)Chapter 8 Fiscal Reform and Changes in Social Security Finance(by U, Yo)Chapter 9 Economic Growth of China : A Comparison with Japan and South Korea(by Atsuko, Ueda)Chapter 10 Late-comer's Growth : Analysis of China's Mobile Handset Industry(by Kimura, Koichiro) Appendix Dat

This research project aims at empirically analyzing macroeconomic effects of such uncertainties as unemployment or inflation, which the Japanese has been concerned about. Our focus is in education demand, physical investment, household consumption, monetary policy and rates of interest, which might be influenced by the uncertainties.1. Chapter 1. Liquidity Constraint in Education Demand : Using the Panel Data on Households, we estimated the functions for education expenditure. Our empirical results are not consistent with human capital investment without liquidity constraints, but with either human capital investment with liquidity constraints or education demand as consumption.2. Chapter 2. Investment under Uncertainty: Using the Balance-Sheet Data of Business Enterprises, we estimated the investment functions, among the explanatory variables which there are three 'uncertainty' variables concerning market forecasts, price-earning ratio and real turnovers. The latter two uncertainty variables are negatively significant, which suggests that it is not uncertainty of demand but one of supply for firms to take into account in their investment decisions.3. Chapter 3 Employment Status and Consumption by Households: In a dynamic general equilibrium model, we address precautionary saving motives for possible unemployment. We numerically measure the cost of inflation, in that households cannot smooth consumptions in face of inflation and deteriorated values of nominal savings. In a case of monetary policy during the 1990s, the Bank of Japan causes 0.334% of GDP, the magnitude of which would be even increased by unemployment risk.4. Chapter 4. Monetary Targeting under Discretion: We address the Goodhart's Law that monetary targeting of central banks could cause money demand function to be less stable. In a dynamic general equilibrium model, we consider a regime switching monetary policy rule which depends on monetary targeting following a Markov process. Our model succeeds in generating variability of money velocity in Japan.5. Cher5. Economic Fluctuations and Long-term Interest Rate in the G7 Countries: We apply the Lucas tree model to the Japanese economy, in comparison with other G7 countries. It turns out that why the Japanese long-term interest rates have been lower than other countries lies in both low level of expected inflation rates and negative inflation premium due to larger covariance between consumption growth and inflation.6

This project has aimed to analyze women's choice of marriage, childbearing, and labor force participation, using micro data from Japan, Korea, Russia, and Jamaica. Analysis results of Japan and Korea are as follows.(A)According to a discrete choice model, (1)better education leads later marriage, fewer childbirth, and more labor force participation, (2)age affects marriage, 'and husband's earnings and the existence of children affect labor supply in Korea, and (3)higher income of the husband leads having more children in Korea, while better education of the husband leads fewer children in Japan.(B)According to a dynamic discrete decision model of life-cycle, (1)negative effects of labor supply on utility are smaller for better educated women, (2)probabilities to find full-time position are 18% for the university educated, and 13% for others, (3)an effect of marriage on utility is significantly negative, and (4)infants ages 0-2 are costly, and the second or subsequent children benefit while the first child is costly when working full-time in Japan. In comparison of married women in Japan and Korea, (1)low-wage work is costly while high-wage work is less costly both in Japan and Korea, and (2)first and second children benefit while the third child benefits less in Japan and even is costly in Korea. Having boys benefits much in Korea

総務庁『社会生活基本調査』のミクロデータを用い、個別の夫婦について、活動時間をマッチさせ、家事、余暇、育児などの活動時間を再集計、計量分析を行った。夫婦フルタイム共働き世帯、夫雇用者妻パートタイム世帯、夫雇用者妻専業主婦世帯で、妻の活動時間には大きい差異が見られたが、夫の活動時間には大きい差異が見られなかった。しかし夫婦の時間調整を同時方程式によって推計すると、夫の家事分担が増えると妻の家事時間が減る効果は実際に見られ、また子供年齢が幼いほど、妻のみならず夫の家事時間(育児時間を含む)も大きく増加する効果が推計された。ただし推定係数から考えると、夫の家事時間が10分増加しても妻の家事負担は2-3分程度しか減少せず、夫の家事時間を10分増やすためには、30分以上の仕事時間の減少が必要という程度の規模である。また市場財と家庭内生産財の完全代替を仮定した経済モデルの予想と異なり、世帯収入の増加が家庭内生産財の需要を高めることが示された。豊かさといった財を生産するための、家庭内での時間投入と市場財投入が完全に代替的ではなく、所得の増加がより家庭内時間集約的な財需要を高めるという解釈、あるいは夫婦間の交渉(力関係)によるという解釈が可能である。実際の妻の収入が上昇すると、妻の家庭内生産時間のみならず、夫の家庭内生産時間も増加し、夫婦間で家事分担がすすむことも示された。育児時間の分析では、育児時間が末子年齢に大きく依存し、母親がフルタイム就業者でも専業主婦でも育児時間の差が比較的小さいこと、末子が3歳以上で特に家事時間、ついで余暇時間にフルタイム就業の母親と専業主婦とで大きい差が出ること、さらに9歳以降、大幅に育児時間が縮小、ゆるやかに母親の就業率が上昇することなどが示された。このほか、高齢者の生活時間、学歴と余暇活動、育児時間と施設利用などを分析した