Toshihiro Okubo

Abstract This paper investigates teleworker efficiency in Japan in the COVID-19 era by using unique survey data on telework. Many Japanese workers started teleworking during the pandemic and found both benefits as well as impediments. Overall, we find that telework experience and the work environment (e.g., having clearly specified tasks and a flexible working system), changes in work–life balance (e.g., working time), and good mental health improves teleworker efficiency.

Abstract This paper investigates the damage impact of the 1959 Ise Bay Typhoon on firm survival and survivor performance in Nagoya City, Japan. We combine firm‐level data with a local damage proxy storm surge‐induced flooding. We find that firms in retail and wholesale were less and those in manufacturing more likely to survive after being flooding. There was some evidence of spillover effects from nearby regions on firm exit. Surviving firm performance was heterogeneous across sectors in that s

This paper investigates novel determinants of intra‐industry trade (IIT) of late 1990s Japanese trade. Our empirical analysis shows that IIT is increased not only by the similarity of GDP and factor endowment but also by technology transfer via Japanese FDI. In particular, the current high proportion of Japanese IIT with Asian countries can be explained by technology transfer (licensing between headquarters and overseas affiliates) via FDI.

This paper studies tax competition in an economic geography model that allows for agglomeration economies with trade costs and heterogeneous firms. We find that the Nash equilibrium involves a large country charging a higher tax than a small nation. Lower trade costs lead to an intensification of competition, a drop in Nash tax rates and a narrowing of the gap. Since large, productive firms are naturally more sensitive to tax differences in our model, large firms are the crux of tax competition

Vaccination has been critical to reducing infections and deaths during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While previous studies have investigated attitudes toward taking a vaccine, studies on the determinants of COVID-19 vaccination behavior are scant. We examine what characteristics, including socioeconomic and non-economic factors, are associated with vaccination behavior for COVID-19 in Japan. We use a large nationwide online survey with approximately 10,000 participants. As o

Abstract Consumption is one channel through which the environment is damaged. To protect the environment, various product standards have been introduced across the world. This paper uses a new economic geography framework to explore the effects of environmental product standards on environment in a North–South trade model. It examines the situation in which the North unilaterally introduces an environmental product standard. Specifically, those products that do not meet the standard are not allo

In this paper, we study the waste haven hypothesis, which predicts that waste materials will be exported from high-income developed countries with stringent environmental regulations to developing countries with less rigorous environmental protection. Using data on Japanese export of recyclable waste resources (plastic waste, waste paper, iron and steel scrap, and nonferrous metal scraps), we find evidence from our econometric analysis that Asian countries provide a waste haven for Japan. In par