HIT-TDB-RIETI International Workshop

Economics of Interfirm Networks

  • Program and Handouts

Information

  • Date: November 29-30, 2012
  • Venue: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), Tokyo

Program: Thursday, November 29

9:30 - 9:50 Opening Remarks

NAKAJIMA Atsushi (Chairman, RIETI)

WATANABE Tsutomu (University of Tokyo and RIETI)

Session 1: The Role of Networks in Macroeconomic Activities

Chair: ONO Arito (Mizuho Research Institute)

9:50 - 10:50 Structure and Change in Production Networks: Evidence from US firm-level data

Keynote Speaker: Vasco CARVALHO (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

10:50 - 11:10 Coffee Break

11:10 - 12:00 Buyer-Supplier Networks and Aggregate Volatility: Evidence from firm level data

Presenter: WATANABE Tsutomu (University of Tokyo and RIETI)

Discussant: IYETOMI Hiroshi (University of Tokyo)

12:00 - 12:50 Network-motivated Lending Decision

Presenter: OGURA Yoshiaki (Waseda University)

Discussant: KOBAYASHI Keiichiro (Hitotsubashi University and RIETI)

12:50 - 14:00 Lunch

14:00 - 14:50 Measuring the Systemic Risk in Interfirm Transaction Networks

Presenter: UESUGI Iichiro (Hitotsubashi University and RIETI)

Discussant: MIYAKAWA Daisuke (Development Bank of Japan)

Session 2: Economic Geography and Interfirm Networks

Chair: XU Peng (Hosei University)

15:00 - 16:00 Roads and Trade: Evidence from the United States

Keynote Speaker: Gilles DURANTON (University of Pennsylvania)

16:00 - 16:20 Coffee Break

16:20 - 17:10 Estimating Geographic Frictions on Interfirm Transactions

Presenter: NAKAJIMA Kentaro (Tohoku University)

Discussant: NISHIDA Mitsukuni (Johns Hopkins University)

17:10 - 18:00 Geographical Concentration of Inter-organizational Collaborations

Presenter: SAITO Yukiko Umeno (RIETI)

Discussant: ONO Yukako (Keio University)

Program: Friday, November 30

Session 3: Innovations and Interfirm Networks

Chair: MIZUNO Takayuki (University of Tsukuba)

10:00 - 10:50 Sources of Private and Public R&D Spillovers: Technological, geographic and relational proximity

Presenter: IKEUCHI Kenta (NISTEP)

Discussant: MORIKAWA Masayuki (RIETI)

10:50 - 11:40 Knowledge and Rent Spillovers through Government-sponsored R&D Consortia

Presenter: OKAMURO Hiroyuki (Hitotsubashi University)

Presenter: NISHIMURA Junichi (Hitotsubashi University)

Discussant: TAMADA Schumpeter (Kwansei Gakuin University)

11:40 - 13:00 Lunch

Session 4: Development of Firm-Bank Relationships

Chair: ODA Keiichiro (RIETI)

13:00 - 13:50 What Do Cash Holdings Tell Us about Bank-Firm Relationships? The case of Japanese firms

Presenter: OGAWA Kazuo (Osaka University)

Discussant: HORI Masahiro (Hitotsubashi University)

13:50 - 14:40 Natural Disasters, Damage to Banks, and Firm Investment

Presenter: HOSONO Kaoru (Ministry of Finance and Gakushuin University)

Discussant: SUZUKI Michio (University of Tokyo)

14:40 - 15:00 Coffee Break

15:00 - 15:50 A Close Look at Loan-to-Value Ratios in Japan: Evidence from real estate registries

Presenter: UCHIDA Hirofumi (Kobe University)

Discussant: YASUDA Yukihiro (Tokyo Keizai University)

15:50 - 16:50 On the Non-Exclusivity of Loan Contracts: An empirical investigation

Keynote Speaker: Hans DEGRYSE (KU Leuven and Tilburg University)

16:50 - 17:00 Closing Remark

WATANABE Tsutomu (University of Tokyo and RIETI)

UESGUI Iichiro (Hitotsubashi University and RIETI)

Keynote speakers

  • Hans DEGRYSE (KU Leuven and Tilburg University)
  • Gilles DURANTON (University of Pennsylvania)
  • Vasco CARVALHO (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

Organizers

  • WATANBE Tsutomu (University of Tokyo and RIETI)
  • UESUGI Iichiro (Hitotsubashi University and RIETI)
  • ONO Arito (Mizuho Research Institute)

Purpose of the workshop

This international workshop on "Economics of Interfirm Networks" presents empirical research based on a massive transaction relationship database of approximately 400,000 Japanese firms over multiple years. It focuses on the role of interfirm networks in four different fields of economics: (1) macroeconomic fluctuations, (2) economic geography, (3) the economics of productivity and innovation, and (4) firm-bank relationships. We believe that the workshop will provide an excellent opportunity to gain a more integrated understanding of the role of networks in the economy.

The workshop is organized as part of the research project on "The Design of Interfirm Networks to Achieve Sustainable Economic Growth" at Hitotsubashi University and is joint-hosted with the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). The project seeks to gain insights into the role of interfim and financial networks in achieving sustainable growth, making use of a massive firm-level dataset constructed in collaboration with Japan's largest credit research company (Teikoku Data Bank Incorporated). The dataset covers a substantial portion of Japanese firms and contains information on their transaction partners, shareholders, financial institutions, and other attributes, including location and performance. The initial research results of the project are now becoming available, and the aim of the workshop is to disseminate the findings obtained hitherto.