Your browser does not support the PubReader view.
Go to this page to see a list of supporting browsers.
Seoul Journal of Economics
[ Article ]
Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 22, No. 2, pp.217-243
ISSN: 1225-0279 (Print)
Print publication date 31 May 2009
Received 06 Oct 2008 Revised 19 Nov 2008

Exploiting Bright Pearls Hidden in the Pandora’s Box of Japanese Urban Growth

Eui-Gak Hwang
Senior Research Professor, The International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development (ICSEAD), Japan
Professor of Emeritus, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
11-4 Otemachi, Kokurakita, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 803-0814, Japan, Tel: +81-93-583-6202, Fax: +81-93-583-4602 hwang@icsead.or.jp

JEL Classification: 011, 040, R11, R50, Z10

Abstract

This paper attempts to look into the growth sources of the advanced capitalistic but idiosyncratic Japanese society. Crossurban data sets of Japan are put on the macro-anatomical table using both panel data of 13 largest cities covering 1994-2004 and time-series data of 10 cities for 1984-2004 plus one additional city Yokohama (1985-2005). Despite some mutually incongruous and diversified data sets for those cities over years, efforts for both congruent economic analysis and econometric experiments are made to identify the marginal effects of theoretically relevant key factors on the urban growth. Accounting for the urban growth and growth source analysis using Japanese urban data conforms fairly well to the conventional theory related to production function. One aspect of cultural diversity, namely, the ethnic diversity partakes to produce statistically significant contribution to the growth of cities in Japan. But limited and internally inconsistent data of other important cultural factors such as religion, sports, and other cultural activities does not allow us to test their effects on urban growth, but future supplement of these data promises to be interesting path to explore further.

Keywords:

City growth, Ethnic (Cultural) diversity, Panel, Accounting, Factor productivity growth

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to George S. Tolley, Hong Hwang, John McCollough, and Rongxing Guo and two unanimous referees for their valuable inputs and comments, but remaining errors are mine.

References

  • ABCSC. Annual Statatistics Book for Big City Comparison. Association of Big City Statistics Cooperation, 1984-2005 (annual) (in Japanese).
  • Adelman, I. and Morris, C. T. Society, Politics, and Economic Development. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1967.
  • Akaike, H. “Likelihood of a Model and Information Criteria.” Journal of Econometrics 16 (No. 1 1981): 3-14. [https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(81)90071-3]
  • Arrow, Kenneth J. “The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing.” Review of Economic Studies 29 (No. 3 June 1962): 155-73. [https://doi.org/10.2307/2295952]
  • Barro, Robert J. “Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 106 (No. 2 May 1991): 407-33. [https://doi.org/10.2307/2937943]
  • Barro, Robert J. Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, July, 1997. [https://doi.org/10.3386/w5698]
  • Barro, Robert J. “Inequality and Growth in a Panel of Countries.” Journal of Economic Growth 5 (No. 1 2000): 5-32. [https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009850119329]
  • Barro, R. J., and McCleary, R. M. Religion and Political Economy in an International Panel. Working Paper 8931, Harvard University, November 2002. [https://doi.org/10.3386/w8931]
  • Barro, R. J., and Sala-i-Martin, Xavier. Economic Growth. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004.
  • Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class. New York: Basic Books, May, 2002.
  • Guo, Rongxing. Cultural Influences on Economic Analysis: Theory and Empirical Evidence. London: Palgrave Macmillan, November, 2006. [https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230206960]
  • “Linguistic and Religious Influences on Foreign Trade: Evidence from East Asia.” Asia Economic Journal 21 (No. 1 2007): 101-21. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8381.2007.00248.x]
  • Harrison, Lawrence, and Huntington, Samuel P. Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress. New York: Basic Books, September, 2000.
  • Haug, M. R. “Social and Cultural Pluralism as a Concept in Social System Analysis.” American Journal of Society 73 (No. 2 1967): 294-304. [https://doi.org/10.1086/224477]
  • Hwang, Eui-Gak. A Close Look at the Urban Growth Sources in Japan, South Korea, and China. ICSEAD Working Paper Series Vol. 2008-21, August, 2008.
  • Hwang, Eui-Gak, and Ahn, Kyung-Ae. A Pilot Search for Urban Growth Sources and the Role of Culture: Case of Korean Urban Growth. The International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development (ICSEAD), Working Paper 2007-26, December, 2007.
  • Knack, Stephen, and Keefer, Philip. “Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? - A Cross-Country Investigation.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 112 (No. 4 November 1997): 1251-86. [https://doi.org/10.1162/003355300555475]
  • Landry, Charles. The Creative City: A Toolkit for Urban Innovative. London: Earthscan, 2000.
  • Landry, Charles. The Art of City Making. London: Earthscan, September, 2006. [https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2006.9982528]
  • Lemico, J. Political Stability in Federal Governments. New York: Praeger, August, 1991.
  • Lian, B., and Oneal, J. R. “Cultural Diversity and Economic Development: A Cross-National Study of 98 Countries, 1960-1985.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 46 (No. 1 1997): 61-77. [https://doi.org/10.1086/452321]
  • Lijphart, A. “The Power Sharing Approach.” In J. V. Montville and H. Binendijk (eds.), Conflict and Peacemaking in Multiethnic Society. Mass: Lexington Books, 1990.
  • Lucas, Robert E. Jr. “On the Mechanics of Economic Development.” Journal of Monetary Economics 22 (No. 1 July 1988) 3-42. [https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(88)90168-7]
  • Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication. The Statistical Yearbook. (annual) (in Japanese).
  • Molinar, Juan. “Counting the Number of Parties: An Alternative Index.” American Political Science Review 85 (No. 4 December 1991): 1383-91. [https://doi.org/10.2307/1963951]
  • Nopo, Hugo, Saavedra, J., and Torero, M. “Ethnicity and Earnings in a Mixed-Race Labor Market.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 55 (No. 4 2007): 709-34. [https://doi.org/10.1086/516762]
  • Ramsey, J. B. “Tests for Specification Errors in Classical Linear Squares Regression Analysis.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society XXX1 (No. 2 1969): 350-71. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1969.tb00796.x]
  • Robinson, Brooks R. Income Inequality and Ethnicity: An International View. Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce, 2003.
  • Romer, Paul M. “Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth.” Journal of Political Economy 94 (No. 5 October 1986): 1002-37. [https://doi.org/10.1086/261420]
  • Romer, Paul M. “Endogenous Technological Change.” Journal of Political Economy 98 (No. 5 1990): S71-S102. [https://doi.org/10.1086/261725]
  • Schwarz, Gedeon. “Estimating the Dimension of a Model.” Annals of Statistics 6 (No. 2 1978): 461-4. [https://doi.org/10.1214/aos/1176344136]
  • Shesinski, E. “Optimal Accumulation with Learning by Doing.” In Karl Shell (ed.), Essays on Theory of Optimal Economic Growth. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 21-52, 1967.
  • Solow, Robert M. “A Contribution To The Theory of Economic Growth.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 70 (No. 1 February 1956): 65-74. [https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513]
  • Solow, Robert M. “Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function.” Review of Economics and Statistics 39 (No. 3 August 1957): 312-20. [https://doi.org/10.2307/1926047]
  • Swan, Trevor W. “Economic Growth and Capital Accumulation.” The Economic Record 32 (No. 2 November 1956): 334-61. [https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4932.1956.tb00434.x]
  • Tolley, George S. Urban and Regional Development Policy in East Asia. An Unpublished Paper Presented at 2006 KREA-KRIHS Seoul Conference, October, 2006.
  • Wood, Phil, and Landry, C. The Intercultural City: planning for diversity advantage. London: Earthscan, 2007.