The project consists of seven major areas which we consider important to study two economies; (1) Small Business, (2) Government and Firms, (3) Financial System, (4) The Structure and Performance of Industry, (5) Macroeconomics, (6) Economic History, and (7) Agriculture. For each topic, a Japanese participant and an Italian counterpart make a team, and will write a joint paper.
In 1995, Tsuneo Ishikawa and Hiroshi Yoshikawa stayed in Siena for four months to launch the Project. In October 1-4, 1996, the conference was held in Siena to discuss the preliminary works. In 1997, the final conference will be held in Tokyo, and the conference volume is planned to be published in 1998.
Some of the works in progress are summarized as follows:
Comparative History of the Silk Reeling Firms in Japan and Italy from 1859 to 1941, by Kanji Ishii and Giovanni Federico.
The silk reeling industries in Japan and Italy played an very important role in each national economy as an export industry before the Second World War. Most of the silk reeling firms, however, were small firms and lasted very short. We attempt to explain why these firms did not develop to big firms.
Education and Employment in Italy and Japan, by Tsuneo Ishikawa and Giorgio Brunello.
Despite the common dominance of small enterprises in the economy, the operation of the labor market, in particular, its role in training, allocating and rewarding workers, seems to be quite different in the two countries. How does different educational system matter in bringing such an outcome? What impact do these differential features have on unemployment? These questions will be addressed using disaggregated data on education and employment in both countries.
A Comparative Analysis of the Italian and Japanese Determinants of New Product Successes, by Hotaka Katahira and Alessandro Innocenti.
The purpose of this study is mostly to make a description and comparison of the position and role of small businesses in the two countries. This study attempts a disaggregate analysis in three respects; size, industrial sector, and region of operation. We focus on business opening and closing rate.
A Comparative Study of Distribution Margins in Italy, Japan and the United States, by Kiyohiko G. Nishimura and Lionello Punzo.
Relying on detailed and internationally comparable Input-Output tables, we investigate how much final buyers of products eventually pay for the service provided by the distribution sector in Italy, Japan, and the United States, in addition to their payment for physical products themselves which are produced by agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Our aim is to find international "stylized facts" in distribution sector in three industrialized regions on the world: Europe, the United States, and Japan.
Economic Growth: The Italian and Japanese Experiences, by Hiroshi Yoshikawa and Massimo Di Matteo.
We compare the postwar Italian and Japanese growth Experiences in the light of recent developments of growth theory. Italy and Japan share the common experiences during the postwar period. In our research, we focus on (1) the causes of a sharp decline in the growth rate in the early 1970s, (2) the role of exports in the process of growth, and finally, (3) the relation between the major change in industrial structure and economic growth.
In addition, we have other works in progress such as "The Corporate Structure and the Japanese Capitalism" by Katsuhito Iwai and "The Monetary and Financial Integration: A Comparison between East Asia and European Countries" by Toru Iwami and Farina.