Shigeyuki ABE | Kyoto University (original) (raw)

Papers by Shigeyuki ABE

Paper presented at the Annual Economic Seminar 2004 on “International Trade Policy: Thailand’s Di... more Paper presented at the Annual Economic Seminar 2004 on “International Trade Policy: Thailand’s Direction in the Global Context,” co-organized by the Office of the National Research Council of Thailand and the School of Devel-opment Economics, National Institute of Development Administration, September 17, 2004, Bangkok, Thailand.

Asian and African Area Studies

This paper studies the effects of the changing age composition and education of the labor force o... more This paper studies the effects of the changing age composition and education of the labor force on labor productivity growth in Singapore. A quality index was constructed to estimate the effects of different age and educational groups on the labor productivity growth. The results indicate that young workers with university degrees contribute significantly to the labor productivity growth of the economy. However, older workers between the ages of 40 and 49 have tended to increase their contribution to labor productivity growth over time. In particular, the labor productivity growth tended to peak between the ages of 30 and 39 in 1984-89, but between the ages of 40 and 44 in 1990-9 9. This result suggests that older workers have become more productive as the economy moved towards more skilled and knowledge-intensive production. However, the results also suggest that productivity of older workers is lower in sectors undergoing rapid structural change such as the manufacturing sector, as opposed to the less structurally vulnerable sector such as the service sectors. It is a vital question, therefore, how Singapore reallocated types of labor among industries to optimize economic growth. * (B) (1)

Since the first release of the national development plan in 1961, Thailand has transformed from a... more Since the first release of the national development plan in 1961, Thailand has transformed from a less appealed place for foreign investors to become a remarkable regional investment 'hot spot.' This striking success was undeniably owing to all country's development plans that were employed throughout four decades.

We consider how globalization has affected demographic trends and how demographic trends have aff... more We consider how globalization has affected demographic trends and how demographic trends have affected globalization. We focus on developments over the last ῎ῌῌ years and emphasize "economic globalization"῍the integration of product, capital, and labor markets and the rapid diffusion of technology and information across borders. We begin by relating a brief history of economic globalization since ῍ΐῑῌ and then identify demographic trends that may have significant effects on economic globalization. We consider how globalization has affected demographic trends and then discuss how demographic trends have affected globalization. We conclude by reflecting on how our analysis is affected by the increased pace of globalization over the last ῐῌ years.

Asian Economic Papers, 2003

Asian Economic Papers, 2008

Asian Economic Papers 7:2 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts... more Asian Economic Papers 7:2 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Maria Gochoco-Bautista was of the opinion that the main cause of the new export pattern that has emerged in the last decade is the increased degree of product fragmentation. Multinational companies are increasingly efacient in dividing up the production chain among countries. It is therefore questionable if an analysis of exports to the United States is the most fruitful approach. Fredrik Sjöholm agreed with Gochoco-Bautista and added the concern that focusing only on the market share in one country does not say anything about the competitiveness of a country. It is likely that the level of Taiwan’s exports has remained stable but that the destination and character of its exports have changed; in particular, Taiwan’s exports had gone from export of anished product to the U.S. market to export of intermediate products to China.

Asian Economic Papers, 2013

Asian Economic Papers 12:1 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusett... more Asian Economic Papers 12:1 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Shigeyuki Abe noted that consumption sometimes increases quite unexpectedly and as a result of sudden shifts in preferences. He made a comparison with the sharp increase in consumption in Japan in the 1960s, which was fueled by a boom in demand for cars, air conditioners, and color televisions. Considering the low wealth and consumption of many Chinese, there are large possibilities that small changes in, for instance, social security can have large impacts on consumption.

Asian Economic Papers, 2013

Asian Economic Papers 12:2 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusett... more Asian Economic Papers 12:2 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology doi:10.1162/ASEP_a_00210 Shigeyuki Abe requested that the author provide more information about the nature/reliability of the data set used in the study and the procedure followed in cleaning up this massive data set (over one million observations!) used in the empirical analysis. He also questioned the robustness of the results reported in the paper to the two-way causation running between proatability and entry of foreign arms (the possibility that the entry of foreign arms could contribute to improved proatability whereas proatability of operations in China act as a key determinant of arms choice of China as a production base). Supporting Abe’s comments on the database, Eric Ramsetter emphasized the importance of adding a detailed appendix to the paper on the nature, scope, and relativity of the arm-level data set used in the study. He also wanted to know speciacally where the export data used in the study had come from; as far as he was aware arm-level export data were not available from ofacial sources (based on customs returns) and it was unlikely that a arm-level survey could have yielded reliable data on export performance.

Asian Economic Papers, 2012

Asian Economic Papers 11:3 © 2012 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusett... more Asian Economic Papers 11:3 © 2012 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Iris Claus argued that one would expect that the amount of R&D investments is determined by the rate of return on such investments. If the rate of return on R&D is relatively low, then we would expect to see a fall in R&D and an increase in investments in other assets. There are many factors affecting the rate of return, which could be included in the analysis. One example would be taxes, both on R&D and on other activities, and both in Korea and abroad. The general business climate and uncertainties about future developments are other important factors affecting R&D investments. Fredrik Sjöholm argued that it is therefore not surprising that Korean arms reduced investments in capital and R&D in 2009, considering the high uncertainties caused by the global recession.

Asian Economic Papers, 2008

Asian Economic Papers 7:3 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts... more Asian Economic Papers 7:3 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Pochih Chen opened the discussion by noting that the concept of the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index is meant to be a (rough) measure of a country’s comparative advantage in world trade, or the relative importance of a product in the country’s export composition relative to that product’s relative importance in world trade. The RCA index was not an appropriate indicator of a country’s export competitiveness. Similarly, Shigeyuki Abe pointed out that the RCA index cannot be used to compare RCA across two countries. He illustrated the point using the following example for China and Malaysia.

Cooperation or Rivalry?, 2021

Cooperation or Rivalry?, 2021

Kobe economic & business review, 1997

The first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was convened in March 1996 and received strong political sup... more The first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was convened in March 1996 and received strong political support from both Asian and European sides. The creation of ASEM is important in that it attempts to build a "bridge" between Asia and Europe, at the same time that regional economic integration between other major regional "poles" is taking place. In particular, APEC has emerged as an important player in defining new boundaries for economic cooperation across the Pacific. Europe has perceived APEC as a potential threat in this regard, especially since Asia is the most dynamic region in the world and EU-Asian links remain relatively weak. Asian countries are interested in strengthening relations with the EU for economic and strategic reasons. This paper evaluates the political economy of ASEM in light of the rapidly-changing global trading system. In addition to a close examination of the economic and policy dimensions of ASEM, the paper considers the future importance o...

The international supply chain for intermediate goods is widespread across East Asia and constitu... more The international supply chain for intermediate goods is widespread across East Asia and constitutes an important part of the global economic system. Recent natural disasters both in Japan and particularly Thailand highlighted its importance and revealed underlying structural weaknesses, as the knock-on effect of localised production disruptions caused stoppages of and delays in production and trade across Asia and beyond. In this paper we elucidate the major problems of the international supply chain by analysing detailed bilateral trade data for three key export goods. We find that the current structure of the supply chain implies that when one part of the chain is cut, the whole chain will necessarily be affected. In conclusion policy suggestions are outlined, giving ways to improve supply resilience and mitigate the impacts of frequently-occurring localised natural disasters on the regional and global economy.

Paper presented at the Annual Economic Seminar 2004 on “International Trade Policy: Thailand’s Di... more Paper presented at the Annual Economic Seminar 2004 on “International Trade Policy: Thailand’s Direction in the Global Context,” co-organized by the Office of the National Research Council of Thailand and the School of Devel-opment Economics, National Institute of Development Administration, September 17, 2004, Bangkok, Thailand.

Asian and African Area Studies

This paper studies the effects of the changing age composition and education of the labor force o... more This paper studies the effects of the changing age composition and education of the labor force on labor productivity growth in Singapore. A quality index was constructed to estimate the effects of different age and educational groups on the labor productivity growth. The results indicate that young workers with university degrees contribute significantly to the labor productivity growth of the economy. However, older workers between the ages of 40 and 49 have tended to increase their contribution to labor productivity growth over time. In particular, the labor productivity growth tended to peak between the ages of 30 and 39 in 1984-89, but between the ages of 40 and 44 in 1990-9 9. This result suggests that older workers have become more productive as the economy moved towards more skilled and knowledge-intensive production. However, the results also suggest that productivity of older workers is lower in sectors undergoing rapid structural change such as the manufacturing sector, as opposed to the less structurally vulnerable sector such as the service sectors. It is a vital question, therefore, how Singapore reallocated types of labor among industries to optimize economic growth. * (B) (1)

Since the first release of the national development plan in 1961, Thailand has transformed from a... more Since the first release of the national development plan in 1961, Thailand has transformed from a less appealed place for foreign investors to become a remarkable regional investment 'hot spot.' This striking success was undeniably owing to all country's development plans that were employed throughout four decades.

We consider how globalization has affected demographic trends and how demographic trends have aff... more We consider how globalization has affected demographic trends and how demographic trends have affected globalization. We focus on developments over the last ῎ῌῌ years and emphasize "economic globalization"῍the integration of product, capital, and labor markets and the rapid diffusion of technology and information across borders. We begin by relating a brief history of economic globalization since ῍ΐῑῌ and then identify demographic trends that may have significant effects on economic globalization. We consider how globalization has affected demographic trends and then discuss how demographic trends have affected globalization. We conclude by reflecting on how our analysis is affected by the increased pace of globalization over the last ῐῌ years.

Asian Economic Papers, 2003

Asian Economic Papers, 2008

Asian Economic Papers 7:2 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts... more Asian Economic Papers 7:2 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Maria Gochoco-Bautista was of the opinion that the main cause of the new export pattern that has emerged in the last decade is the increased degree of product fragmentation. Multinational companies are increasingly efacient in dividing up the production chain among countries. It is therefore questionable if an analysis of exports to the United States is the most fruitful approach. Fredrik Sjöholm agreed with Gochoco-Bautista and added the concern that focusing only on the market share in one country does not say anything about the competitiveness of a country. It is likely that the level of Taiwan’s exports has remained stable but that the destination and character of its exports have changed; in particular, Taiwan’s exports had gone from export of anished product to the U.S. market to export of intermediate products to China.

Asian Economic Papers, 2013

Asian Economic Papers 12:1 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusett... more Asian Economic Papers 12:1 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Shigeyuki Abe noted that consumption sometimes increases quite unexpectedly and as a result of sudden shifts in preferences. He made a comparison with the sharp increase in consumption in Japan in the 1960s, which was fueled by a boom in demand for cars, air conditioners, and color televisions. Considering the low wealth and consumption of many Chinese, there are large possibilities that small changes in, for instance, social security can have large impacts on consumption.

Asian Economic Papers, 2013

Asian Economic Papers 12:2 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusett... more Asian Economic Papers 12:2 © 2013 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology doi:10.1162/ASEP_a_00210 Shigeyuki Abe requested that the author provide more information about the nature/reliability of the data set used in the study and the procedure followed in cleaning up this massive data set (over one million observations!) used in the empirical analysis. He also questioned the robustness of the results reported in the paper to the two-way causation running between proatability and entry of foreign arms (the possibility that the entry of foreign arms could contribute to improved proatability whereas proatability of operations in China act as a key determinant of arms choice of China as a production base). Supporting Abe’s comments on the database, Eric Ramsetter emphasized the importance of adding a detailed appendix to the paper on the nature, scope, and relativity of the arm-level data set used in the study. He also wanted to know speciacally where the export data used in the study had come from; as far as he was aware arm-level export data were not available from ofacial sources (based on customs returns) and it was unlikely that a arm-level survey could have yielded reliable data on export performance.

Asian Economic Papers, 2012

Asian Economic Papers 11:3 © 2012 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusett... more Asian Economic Papers 11:3 © 2012 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Iris Claus argued that one would expect that the amount of R&D investments is determined by the rate of return on such investments. If the rate of return on R&D is relatively low, then we would expect to see a fall in R&D and an increase in investments in other assets. There are many factors affecting the rate of return, which could be included in the analysis. One example would be taxes, both on R&D and on other activities, and both in Korea and abroad. The general business climate and uncertainties about future developments are other important factors affecting R&D investments. Fredrik Sjöholm argued that it is therefore not surprising that Korean arms reduced investments in capital and R&D in 2009, considering the high uncertainties caused by the global recession.

Asian Economic Papers, 2008

Asian Economic Papers 7:3 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts... more Asian Economic Papers 7:3 © 2008 The Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Pochih Chen opened the discussion by noting that the concept of the revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index is meant to be a (rough) measure of a country’s comparative advantage in world trade, or the relative importance of a product in the country’s export composition relative to that product’s relative importance in world trade. The RCA index was not an appropriate indicator of a country’s export competitiveness. Similarly, Shigeyuki Abe pointed out that the RCA index cannot be used to compare RCA across two countries. He illustrated the point using the following example for China and Malaysia.

Cooperation or Rivalry?, 2021

Cooperation or Rivalry?, 2021

Kobe economic & business review, 1997

The first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was convened in March 1996 and received strong political sup... more The first Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) was convened in March 1996 and received strong political support from both Asian and European sides. The creation of ASEM is important in that it attempts to build a "bridge" between Asia and Europe, at the same time that regional economic integration between other major regional "poles" is taking place. In particular, APEC has emerged as an important player in defining new boundaries for economic cooperation across the Pacific. Europe has perceived APEC as a potential threat in this regard, especially since Asia is the most dynamic region in the world and EU-Asian links remain relatively weak. Asian countries are interested in strengthening relations with the EU for economic and strategic reasons. This paper evaluates the political economy of ASEM in light of the rapidly-changing global trading system. In addition to a close examination of the economic and policy dimensions of ASEM, the paper considers the future importance o...

The international supply chain for intermediate goods is widespread across East Asia and constitu... more The international supply chain for intermediate goods is widespread across East Asia and constitutes an important part of the global economic system. Recent natural disasters both in Japan and particularly Thailand highlighted its importance and revealed underlying structural weaknesses, as the knock-on effect of localised production disruptions caused stoppages of and delays in production and trade across Asia and beyond. In this paper we elucidate the major problems of the international supply chain by analysing detailed bilateral trade data for three key export goods. We find that the current structure of the supply chain implies that when one part of the chain is cut, the whole chain will necessarily be affected. In conclusion policy suggestions are outlined, giving ways to improve supply resilience and mitigate the impacts of frequently-occurring localised natural disasters on the regional and global economy.