National Bureau of Economic Research

Center for Advanced Research in Finance

Center on Japanese Economy and Business

European Institute of Japanese Studies

Australia-Japan Research Centre

Japan Project Meeting

Magnus Blomstrom, Jennifer Corbett, Fumio Hayashi, Charles Horioka,

Anil Kashyap, and David Weinstein, Organizers

June 24-25, 2008

Marubiru Conference Square

Tokyo, Japan

Program

Tuesday, June 24:
8:30 am	Breakfast/Registration
9:00 am	Joe Chen, Yun Jeong Choi, and Yasuyuki Sawada, University of Tokyo
	Suicide and Life Insurance
	Discussant: Emily Oster, University of Chicago and NBER
10:00 am	Break
10:30 am	Jose Lopez and Mark Spiegel, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
	Foreign Entry into Underwriting Services: Evidence from Japan’s “Big Bang” Deregulation
	Discussant: Takeo Hoshi, UC, San Diego and NBER
11:30 am	Kimie Harada, Chuo University
	Takatoshi Ito, University of Tokyo and NBER
	Did Mergers Help Japanese Mega-Banks Avoid Failures? Analysis of the Distance to Default of Banks
	Discussant: Joe Peek, University of Kentucky
12:30 pm	Lunch
	Speaker: Hiroko Ota, Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy
2:00 pm	Kazuki Onji, Australian National University
	David Vera, Kent State University
	Tax Law Asymmetries and Income Shifting: Evidence from Japanese Capital Keiretsu
	Discussant: Yishay Yafeh, Hebrew University
3:00 pm	Break
3:30 pm	Shiro Armstrong, Australian National University
	Interaction Between Trade, Conflict and Cooperation: The Case of Japan and China
	Discussant: Matthew Slaughter, Dartmouth College and NBER
4:30 pm	Panel – Momentum for Structural Reform
	Naohiro Yashiro, ICU and Council on Economic & Fiscal Policy
	Tatsuo Hatta, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
	Richard Jerram, Macquarie Capital Securities (Japan)
6:00 pm	Adjourn
7:00 pm	Reception and Dinner – Marubiru Conference Square
Wednesday, June 25:
8:30 am	Breakfast
9:00 am	Migiwa Tanaka, Bank of Japan
	Deflation in Durable Goods Markets: An Empirical Model of the Tokyo Condominium Market
	Discussant: Christopher Mayer, Columbia University and NBER
10:00 am	Break
10:30 am	Christian Broda, University of Chicago and NBER
	David Weinstein, Columbia University and NBER
	Exporting Deflation? Chinese Exports and Japanese Prices
	Discussant: Shujiro Urata, Waseda University
11:30 am	Kiu-Sik Bae and Dong-Bae Kim, Korea Labor Institute
	Hiroyuki Chuma and Isao Ohashi, Hitotsubashi University
	Takao Kato, Colgate University
	High Performance Work Practices and Employee Voice: A Comparison of Japanese and Korean Workers
	Discussant: Jesse Shapiro, University of Chicago and NBER
12:30 pm	Adjourn
AREA MAP
6/12/08