Overview
2007 - 2008
The aim of this project is to develop effective policy recommendations for improving productivity in the context of economic globalization by interpreting the process of economic globalization to be a multiple game involving the following types of players acting on different sets of principles:
(1) firms acting to maximize profits whose behavior can be explained in terms of a "2R-2R model" (cyclical model of "resources and risks as the strategic basis" and "redefinition and relocation as the strategic action"); (2) governments acting to maximize national interests based on the principle of realism; and (3) international organizations acting to maximize overall interests transcending the framework of nations based on the principle of liberalism. This framework is used for analyzing current conditions and identifying salient issues in globalization and productivity. Particular attention is paid to cross-border M&As as a specific form of economic globalization, and the reorganization of Europe's electric power and gas industries is analyzed as a case study. This project is conducted jointly with the OECD.
2006
Amid the advance of economic globalization, Japan and other industrialized countries are facing the issue of how to enhance productivity. With the intention of making effective policy proposals concerning this issue, by understanding and identifying companies' international business activities in the form of the cyclical model "resource and risk as a companies' strategic base," and "redefinition and relocation as companies' strategic actions," (the "2R-2R" model, which cyclically amalgamates positioning theory and resource base theory relating to corporate strategy), we will extract the real facts and issues of economic globalization at the micro level, namely the company level. At the same time, from the perspective of enhancing productivity in the context of globalization, we will also study the relationship between the government (policies) and companies (business activities). This study will be conducted as a joint project with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Until August 31, 2009
