要旨：This study analyzes how local agglomeration affects the probabilities of firm entry and exit by focusing on single-establishment firms in the service sector. Firms in the service sector face geographically localized markets since service is generally non-tradable. A theoretical prediction in the literature is that firm turnover is increasing in market size, which is empirically tested in this paper. A novelty of this study is to identify geographic ranges of local agglomeration with geocoding of firm location and micro-geographic data. This study finds that probability of firm entry and exit in the service sector is largely affected by agglomeration factors localized within a 3km radius from their locations.

要旨：In international trade, transportation requires a round trip for which a transport firm has to commit to shipping capacity that is sufficient to meet the maximum shipping volume. This may cause the “backhaul problem.” Trade theory suggests that, facing the problem, transport firms with market power adjust their freight rates strategically when import tariffs change. As a consequence, a country reducing its import tariffs may experience an increase in exports as well as imports. Using worldwide data covering 1995-2007, we find evidence that supports these predictions: a 1% reduction in an importer’s tariffs increases the import freight rates by around 0.8%; reduces the export freight rates by around 1.1%; and increases the export quantity by 0.6% to 1%. These findings indicate a new mechanism through which import-tariff reductions lead to export expansions.

要旨：地域格差は学術的にも政策的にも旧くて新しいテーマである。戦後日本において国土の均衡発展は一貫した政策目標であったが，2000年代になると世界的な都市間競争を念頭に，規制緩和による都市再生政策が推進されるようになった。一方，現在政府が取り組む地方創生政策は地方圏の経済的疲弊と東京一極集中の是正を通じ人口減少の克服を目指すものであるが，今後その成果の検証が求められよう。地域格差の拡大をめぐって議論がしばしば混乱する理由に，格差現象を把握する概念の不明確さがある。すなわち，人口や所得が地理的に偏って存在することを問題とする「規模の地域間格差」と，人口や世帯あたりで見た所得の差を問題とする「水準の地域間格差」の区別が重要である（豊田,2013）。新古典派経済学の理論によると，労働力の移動が自由であれば，低賃金地域（地方圏）から高賃金地域（大都市圏）へ人口が移動する。その結果，市場の調整メカニズムにより賃金は均衡に向かい「水準の地域間格差」は縮小する。しかし，前者からは人口流出が，後者へは人口流入が生じ，「規模の地域間格差」は拡大する。もし人口移動を制限する政策をとるならば，前者で失業増大，後者では人手不足が生じ，全体の成長が阻害されよう。二つの格差がつねにトレードオフ関係にあるとは限らないが，現実の状況には同時に解決しがたいジレンマが存在する（豊田,2015）。所得の地域格差に関するこれまでの研究では，1993～2008年の都道府県別世帯所得の分析から，所得水準の地域間格差は縮小したが，人口移動が規模の地域間格差を拡大していることを指摘した（豊田,2013）。その後，2008年のリーマンショックや2011年の東日本大震災に伴う深刻な景気の後退を経て，日本経済は緩やかな景気回復過程が続いている。この間，日本社会は人口減少局面への突入，戦後団塊世代の引退，非正規労働者の増加など大きな変化を経験した。本研究では，直近の雇用や所得の地域格差は拡大しているか，それが人口移動にどのような影響を与えているか分析をおこなう。

【国際経済学セミナーと共催】
要旨：International trade and investment flows obey gravity relationships, posing a continuing puzzle. New data on cross-border commercial real-estate investment flows show that they obey gravity, but this relationship is rendered insignificant by controlling for the presence of counterparties from origin countries in destination countries. We attribute this to a strong, robust tendency for preferential matching with same-country counterparties. We set up an equilibrium matching model with a contracting/trust friction affecting different-nationality transactions. The model explains the persistent success of gravity using the friction and the fact that the spatial distribution of same-nationality counterparties is well-explained by historical links between countries.

【国際経済学セミナーと共催】
要旨：We propose and apply a new theory-consistent algorithm, which uses disaggregated inter-city trade data to identify a pyramidic city system with central places and associated hinterlands. Because central places possess more industries than the cities in their hinterlands, and because industries, which are exclusive to central places, are more likely to export to the small, peripheral cities in the central place’s hinterland, we find that aggregate exports from central places to their hinterlands are two to five times larger than predicted by gravity forces. Using a simple decomposition approach, we show that this upward bias results from aggregation along the extensive industry margin, which is why the bias is much smaller and only marginally significant if estimation is conducted in a theory-consistent way at the disaggregated industry level.

要旨：This paper investigates a two-location local public goods economy in which agents choose their residential location and consumption bundles, faced with location-specific disaster risks. The amount of local public goods provision financed by local wealth tax is determined by majority voting of residents to reduce the disaster probability. We show that every equilibrium is wealth stratified if utility functions are constant relative risk aversion with basic consumption in housing. Moreover, when disaster risks in a location increase, population and housing rent decrease and the tax rate increases in that location, while the opposite takes place in the other one. Using this framework, we also evaluate two different policies numerically, namely foreign aid and inter-jurisdiction transfer as a local public good or a lump-sum subsidy. If foreign aid provides local public goods for the riskier location, wealthier agents may move into that location and force poorer agents to move out, making the wealthier agents direct beneficiaries of this foreign subsidy. Furthermore, we find that the inter-jurisdiction transfer from the less risky location to the riskier one may harm the poorer by rising housing rents. Finally, the poorer agents may benefit more from a lump-sum subsidy.

要旨：This paper investigates the impact of high-speed rail on innovative activities of establishments along the rail. Using the case of the opening of Nagano-Hokuriku Shinkansen in Japan, and applying difference-indifferences approach, we estimate the impact of the high-speed rail on the innovative activities along the line. We find that after the opening the high-speed rail, innovative activities by the establishments along the line are significantly increased. Furthermore, collaborative patents across establishments along the line and citations of patents published by the establishments in Tokyo are increased. These imply that the innovative activities along the line is increased through knowledge diffusions from the nearby establishments and those in Tokyo.