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Article type: Cover
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Cover
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Takashi NAKAZAWA
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
1-18
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Public housing, the Japan Housing Corporation, and the Housing Loan Corporation have been the three main institutions of Japan's housing policy since the end of World War II. Each of these institutions has experienced a major change since the late 1990s. Although they have all contributed to raise the national housing standard, a specific housing policy has been targeted for a specific social stratum, thus, leading to the establishment of different housing classes. The purpose of this paper is to present the facts regarding the reformation of Japan's housing policy and to investigate its influence that is observed in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The Japanese government tightened the qualification for public housing applicants by revising the Public housing law in 1996. Nevertheless, owing to the period of prolonged recession, the number of candidates applying for public housing has been increasing. Public houses are unevenly distributed throughout the Tokyo metropolitan area. Moreover, the turnover rate of dwellers is uneven; it is lower in the downtown area than in the suburbs. These facts engender the regional disparities between the supply of and demand for public houses. The 1996 revision enabled the conversion of sites that were reserved for public housing to be used for commercial purposes. This was carried out under the banner of "Urban Renaissance" and can result in aggravating the problem of the spatial mismatch of public houses. Previously, dwellers complained about the remote location, expensive rent, and narrow living space; however, statistical investigations reveal that the Japan Housing Corporation has been supplying relatively good residences. This is also affirmed by the good performance of the rental house business of the Japan Housing Corporation. The Japan Housing Corporation has reformed to become the Urban Renaissance Agency, which focuses mainly on urban development and no longer manages the supply of new housing units. Moreover, the supply of rental housing by the private sector has been insufficient thus far. The introduction of the fixed period tenancy does not improve this situation. The housing stocks provided by the Japan Housing Corporation are still extremely significant for the people. After the burst of the economic bubble, the Housing Loan Corporation scaled up the amount of loan. As a consequence, the metropolitan areas have witnessed a boom in the market for owner occupied houses. This is a rare and important rising market in an otherwise slumping Japanese economy. Consequently, people choose to buy an owner occupied house loaned by the Housing Loan Corporation since the supply of rental houses is limited and the rent is relatively high. Thus, the abolition of the Housing Loan Corporation reduces the opportunity for a person to become an owner occupier and can prove to be a bad influence on the Japanese economy. The Japanese housing policy has been criticized for establishing the housing classes that correspond to the three main institutions mentioned above, but cover almost all Japanese people as the intended policy target. As a result of the reformation, the supply of residences and housing loans has been entrusted to the private sector. It is troublesome to note that these changes effectively increase the gap between those who can afford to live in a good residence and those who can not and thus establish a new housing class altogether.
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Yasuhisa ABE, Nan ZHENG
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
19-35
Published: March 30, 2006
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This paper examines the merger of two Chinese state-owned iron manufacturing corporations located in Dalian and Fushun, Liaoning Province. The two companies, Fushun special Steel Co. Inc. and Dalian Jinniu Co. Ltd., merged to form the Liaoning Special Steel Corporation in 2003. This paper analyzes the change in the operational strategy of the new company and the regional differentiation in the operational conditions of the two companies. The merger could be viewed as a case in which Dalian Jinniu swallowed up Fushun Special Steel. In this respect it is no surprise to discover that the new company's operations are largely guided by the executives of Dalian Jinniu. Examples of this are 1) a majority of executives was selected from Dalian Jinniu and 2) the sales department of Fushun Special Steel is going to be merged into Dalian Jinniu's sales department. Looking at the merger in terms of location and power relations Dalian Jinniu, located in the economically prosperous Dalian, took advantage of relatively beneficial employment conditions. Dalian Jinniu was aggressive in its approach to operational reform, trimming the workforce and spinning off subsiduary corporations and plants in the latter half of the 1990's. At the time of the merger, Dalian Jinniu had secured the financial support of the Dalian Municipal Government. Conversely, Fushun Special Steel was relocated in Fushun, where the employment base relied on state-owned industries. This factor made it difficult for management to make progress in operational reforms. So in the years from 2000 to 2002, it is remarkable that Fushun Special Steel was able to reduce its workforce and spin off its welfare facilities and subsiduaries. Since the merger, production line efficiency has been intensified. The production of crude steel, with its large impact on the natural environment, now takes place at the plants located at Fushun. Steel processing, with its high margins and low environmental impact, remains at the Dalian plant. A merger of this kind between two large state-owned corporations has repercussions on the local economies and the employment conditions. For a region such as Fushun, where the local employment base relies on state-owned industries, there is a strong feeling of disquiet regarding the merger. Also, we look at other state-owned corporations located in Fushtin. In recent years they have had few advantages from leaving the head office and the product and sales departments intact in Fushun. There is a concern that these and other industries will leave for other areas. There are executives in other industries currently considering whether to relocate their head offices to a larger metropolis. If faced with this situation, the Fushun municipal government wouldn't have sufficient influence to prevent these companies from leaving the city. If the municipal government remains essentially powerless in the future, then there will be a significantly detrimental impact on the employment rates in this city.
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2005 Regional Congress Executive Committee
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
36-44
Published: March 30, 2006
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Toshio HATSUZAWA, Masateru HINO, Mitsuo YAMAKAWA, Takaaki KOGANEZAWA
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
45-51
Published: March 30, 2006
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
52-54
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
55-56
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
57-
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[in Japanese], [in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
57-58
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
58-
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
58-59
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
59-
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
59-60
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
60-
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
60-61
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
61-
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[in Japanese]
Article type: Article
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
61-62
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
63-
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Appendix
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Cover
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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Article type: Cover
2006 Volume 52 Issue 1 Pages
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