Overview
2007 - 2008
It appears that Japan has been experiencing a weakening of "market norms" in recent years as a result of the diversification of consumer transactions. Jointly created and supported through the efforts of the government and market participants such as consumers and businesses, "market norms" contribute to the development and stability of the entire economy and society by directing the activities of businesses in a direction that will add to the welfare of society as a whole. This project addresses the questions of what are "market norms" and what types of consumer policies will contribute to the development and stability of such "market norms." Using these questions and recent consumer related problems as a starting point, this project will undertake an analysis of laws and economics based on game theory. In addition, related literature in the fields of law, economics, sociology, political science, philosophy and others will be surveyed, and recent policy cases pertaining to consumer fraud and product safety issues will be examined.
January 29, 2008 - July 10, 2008
