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Introduction: Importance of bank lending in the propagation of exogenous shocks has been recognised in the literature. Such views are collectively called the credit view. The credit view is that a negative shock, e.g. a monetary tightening, restricts the availability of credit to borrowers, thereby affecting the real economy. The credit view consists of two different views, namely the "bank-lending view" and the "balance sheet view". According to the "bank-lending view" banks cut back on lending in the wake of tight money because they have less money to lend, even though there are good loans to be made. On the other hand, the balance sheet view implies that banks cut back on lending in the wake of tight money because borrowers are in bad shape. Thus the two views have different implications. Nevertheless, both the views imply that a monetary tightening shifts the supply schedule of bank loans left, thereby affecting the real economy. This transmission mechanism of monetary policy is called the credit channel. The quantitative importance of the credit channel may be dependent on institutional characteristics of the financial market. If banks can substitute from deposits to less reserve-intensive forms of finance, such as certificates of deposit, commercial paper, and equity, for instance a reduction in bank reserves caused by a monetary tightening will not shift the supply schedule of bank loans. If borrowers have access to a variety of non-bank financial sources, for instance, a leftward shift of the supply schedule of bank loans, if any, will not affect the real economy. As such, it is argued in the literature that the importance of the credit channel is likely to diminish over time due to ongoing financial innovation and deregulation, e.g. Bernanke and Gertler. There may be institutional changes that make the credit channel of monetary policy more important however. An example of such institutional changes may be the introduction of the risk-based capital standards. In July, the bank supervisors of the G10 countries plus Luxembourg agreed to implement risk-based capital requirements, which took effect in 1989. This is known as the Basle Accord. Under the Accord, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) requires bank supervisors to impose minimum risk-weighted capital-to-asset ratios of eight per cent on all internationally operating banks of their countries. The BIS gives positive weights and zero weights to risky components (e.g. commercial and industrial loans), and safe components (e.g. U.S. government securities), of banks' assets respectively. This means that banks can raise their risk-weighted capital-to-asset ratios by substituting from loans to government bonds. If many banks shift their portfolios in this way at the same time, the aggregate supply schedule of bank loans will shift inward, and a credit crunch will ensue. The focus of this paper is similar but different to that of the U.S. literature, however. First, this paper examines how the implementation of the risk-based capital standards affects the channel through which an exogenous shock (e.g. monetary policy) has influences on bank lending. That is, the focus is on the credit channel in the presence of the risk-based capital standards. Second, this paper focuses on the case of Japan. Under the Basle Accord, allowable components of bank capital are dependent on national regulations of individual countries, which creates difference in the effects of the risk-based capital standards on the credit channel between U.S. and Japan. This paper is organised as follows. Section 2 reviews the risk-based capital standards of the BIS in the context of Japanese banks. Section 3 discusses a benchmark model for this paper. In particular, the "costly-state-verification-model (Townsend 1979) which captures asymmetric information problems pertain to financial transactions, is employed. With this model, we derive incentive-compatibility constraints for a bank to make loans. This section also examines how exogenous shocks affect these constraints and thereby bank lending. Section 4 introduces the essence of the risk-based capital standards of the BIS into the model, and shows how, in addition to the incentive compatibility constraints, a capital adequacy constraint must also be satisfied. Section 5 concludes by comparing the implications derived from the model with the results of empirical works.

Improving the performance of youth on the labor market is a crucial challenge in many OECD countries and first experiences on the labor market have a profound influence on later working life. This report on Japan surveys the main barriers to employment for young people in Japan, assesses of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing measures to improve the transition from school to work in the country, and presents set of policy recommendations.--Publisher's description

The causal structure of the determinants of trust in industry, government, and citizen's groups in Japan was investigated on the basis of Peters et al. (1997). A preliminary survey of the adequacy of the hypotheses proposed by Peters et al. in Japan was made. A set of hypothesized determinants of trust in Japan was proposed based on results of the preliminary survey. Questionnaires concerning perceptions of trust in the organizations and the proposed determinants were sent by mail to residents in the area where environmental risk problems had emerged. The data were analyzed by covariance structure analysis to construct models of trust in industry, government, and citizen's groups. As a result, "openness and honesty,""concern and care,""competence,""people's concern with risks," and "consensual values" were found to be factors directly determining trust. Suggested in particular is that "openness" of an organization is not attained merely by information disclosure, but also by bi‐directional communication with the people. Moreover, these models include "consensual values," which do not appear in the model proposed by Peters et al.

Recent organizational and structural changes have significantly changed the relative importance of research funding mechanisms in Russia. There is a need for understanding the possible effects of changes to Russian science. In this context, particular important to research a foreign experience of research funding. For example in Japan have developed a new approach to research funding. It is important to consider the essence of the new approach to research funding, in the aspect of national characteristics of research policy in Japan. It is also necessary to take into account the specific activities of the research funding institutions. The article highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional mechanisms of research funding in Japan. The author draws parallels between the approaches to research funding by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Japan Science and Technology Agency. The recent changes in research policy, which led to development of the new funding scheme are described. The new research funding scheme is analyzed. The necessary conditions for effectively functioning of the new research funding scheme are identified. These conditions include adequacy of funding, mobility of research personnel, advanced research infrastructure, high absorption capability of the private sector.

AbstractWe examined trends and differences in home help (HH) use between 1999 and 2017 regarding living arrangements, gender, income and disability levels relating to the changes in Japan's long‐term care policy. HH is the help provided for activities of daily living to older adults with disabilities. We classified it into four types: only informal, informal and formal, only formal and neither and measured perceived adequacy of HH received by participants. We used five waves of repeated cross‐sectional data from 1999 to 2017 to examine trends using generalised estimation equations. The use of both informal and formal HH increased until 2006 and then gradually decreased but remained higher than in 1999. High perceived adequacy of HH received remained stable between 1999 and 2017. For participants living alone, the rate of using both informal and formal HH increased after 2002; high perceived adequacy of HH received increased until 2006, subsequently remaining steady.

The underlying causes of sharp declines in bank lending during recessions in large developed economies, as exemplified by the U.S. in the early 1990s and Japan in the late 1990s, are still being debated due to a lack of any convincing identification strategy of the supply side capital-lending relationship with lending demand. This paper is a first attempt to construct a strong instrument for bank capital from empirical observation of the banks' behavioral changes in the past and to estimate the impact of capital adequacy on the lending supply. The implications of prudential regulation and the ineffectiveness of a loose monetary policy are discussed based on the micro evidence presented.

Minimum Income Standard (MIS) research involves an innovative methodology that combines consensual decisions made through discussion by members of the public, supported by input from experts. MIS addresses questions about income adequacy, and in particular, what is the income that people need in order to reach a minimum socially acceptable standard of living. The first MIS for Britain was published in the UK in 2008, and in 2010 researchers from Japan and the UK began to collaborate on developing a comparable Minimum Income Standard for Japan. This article discusses the differences and similarities between the UK and Japanese MIS. It looks at the challenges of applying the methodology in a very different setting and compares the results of the research in the UK and in Japan. Although there are notable differences in the lists of goods and services that comprise the budgets, there are also some striking similarities. This research suggests that the MIS methodology offers an approach that can be used in different countries to inform discussions on contemporary living standards and societal norms, and to enable international comparisons to be drawn.