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Structural Impediments to Growth in Japan

As Japan’s decade-long economic stagnation continues, there has been much analysis of the immediate macroeconomic problems that confront the Japanese economy. This book looks past the short-run challenges to the future of Japan and highlights the intermediate and longer-term issues that country faces.

In this, the first book-length academic treatment of this important issue, a team of notable contributors present nine papers, offering a comprehensive assessment of those economic difficulties and addressing a range of specific issues, from financial restructuring and the impact of the aging Japanese population to corporate behavior, public lending, employment practices, and innovative capacity. In each paper, contributors clearly identify and outline problems and concerns, carefully pose provocative questions, and in many instances present concrete suggestions for improvement.

The resulting volume is a timely and important examination of critical issues for Japan’s stalling economy, packed with both telling data and expert analysis and offering valuable perspectives on Japan’s current obstacles.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
Magnus Blomström, Jennifer Corbett, Fumio Hayashi, and Anil Kashyap
1. Financial Sector Profitability and Double-Gearing
Mitsuhiro Fukao
2. Paying for the FILP
Takero Doi and Takeo Hoshi
3. The Deteriorating Fiscal Situation and an Aging Population
Robert Dekle
4. Mismeasurement of the CPI
Kenn Ariga and Kenji Matsui
5. Regulation, Distribution Efficiency, and Retail Density
David Flath
6. Inefficiency of Corporate Investment and Distortion of Savings Behavior in Japan
Albert Ando, Dimitrios Christelis, and Tsutomu Miyagawa
7. Is Japan’s Innovative Capacity in Decline?
Lee Branstetter and Yoshiaki Nakamura
8. Constraints on the Level and Effective Use of Labor
Hiroshi Ono and Marcus E. Rebick
9. An International Perspective of Corporate Groups and Their Prospects
Yishay Yafeh
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

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