Horie Tetsuya

Using a multi-region and multi-sector computable general equilibrium model, this paper evaluates the border adjustment policies of carbon regulations in Japan. We consider five types of border adjustments and examine their effects on the welfare, carbon leakage, and competitiveness of the Japanese energy-intensive trade-exposed (EITE) sectors. Our analysis shows that no single border adjustment policy is superior to the other policies in terms of simultaneously solving three primary issues: Welfare degradation, carbon leakage, and a loss of competitiveness in the EITE sectors. In addition, we show that export border adjustments are effective at restoring the competitiveness of Japanese exporters and reducing leakage. Our analysis also reveals that border adjustment in Japan significantly affects carbon leakage to China and the competitiveness of the iron and steel sectors. Finally, we show that border adjustments with and without consideration of indirect emissions have similar impacts, which indicates that the information regarding direct emissions is sufficient for implementing border adjustment in Japan.

Sound economic assessments of damages caused by exotic invasive species provide a basis to determine whether management programs should be established, modified, or discontinued. Few analyses have attempted to carefully quantify those damages, especially for forest pests. Oak wilt is the most significant disease of oaks (Quercus spp) in the north central United States and is caused by a nonnative fungus, Ceratocystis fagacearum.

Though there are many studies on Japanese agricultural productivity, studies in relation to efficiency of Japanese agriculture are very few. In this study an attempt is made to measure the technical efficiency and technical change in Japanese agriculture from 1965 to 1995. Both data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) methods are used to measure the efficiency. We obtained a consistent result between these two analyses. We also found that a fair amount technical progress existed, but at the same time technical efficiency declined in these thirty years. Prefectures which have large-scale rice farming such as Hokkaido, Niigata, Ishikawa, and Toyama possess high technical efficiencies. Also, prefectures which are near big cities such as Tokyo, Kanagawa and Aichi possess high technical efficiencies. On the other hand, cold, mountainous and less populated prefectures such as Iwate, Tottori and Shimane possess low technical efficiencies. Also, we found that technical efficiency diverged rather than converged over these 30 years.