KOKUSAI KEIZAI
Online ISSN : 1884-4359
Print ISSN : 0387-3943
ISSN-L : 0387-3943
Volume 73
Displaying 1-8 of 8 articles from this issue
Special Features on COVID-19 and the Contemporary International Economy
  • Satoru Nakamoto, Masahiro Endoh
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 1-4
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Kaoru Hoshino
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 5-37
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: March 09, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    The EU and member countries have been combating Covid-19 crisis by the comprehensive economic policy means. The EU has established new fiscal support framework like NextGenerationEU, Recovery and Resilience Fund in order to not only cope with Covid-19 crisis but also promote the transition to Decarbonization and Digitization. It depends on the will and efforts of the member countries to grapple with structural reform whether the EU can succeed in such ambitious goals.

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  • Hitoshi Hirakawa
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 39-72
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: March 09, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Almost two years have passed after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China.

    The infection has repeatedly attacked, moving around the world, centering the US, India, Brazil, etc. and producing mutant strains with strong infectivity. The COVID-19 virus simultaneously attacks nodes through the network that economic globalization has created for the last half century, severely damaging economies. The struggle against the COVID-19 is shifting from short-term containment of virus to co-existing, to a certain extent, with the virus and recovering economic activities by improving the immunity of societies as well as providing financial support. The attacks of the COVID-19 on the world economies have structural characteristics: jumping over time, from the advanced economies to ‘emerging and developing economies,’ and from emerging middle-income economies to low-income economies. While governments in developed economies proceed with vaccination of people with abundant financial support, and support economic recovery and digitalization by taking economic stimulus measures, governments with poorer budgets are limited in financial support and people are deprived of vaccination in ‘emerging and developing economies.’ They are structurally facing more economic difficulties and risks from the COVID-19. In addition, this international structure is involved in the hegemonic struggle between the US and China. A simultaneous COVID-19 and economic recovery of ‘emerging and developing economies’ will definitely take a much longer time than in advanced economies. Currently, most sought after is the strengthening of international cooperation for financial support and equal distribution of vaccines, which will ensure economic recovery not only in ‘emerging and developing economies,’ but also in developed economies.

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  • Kimihito Sakurai
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 73-98
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: July 05, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Overcoming deflation became a narrative for the BOJ. But an attempt by Kuroda of the BOJ to achieve 2% increase of CPI turned out to be a device to support excessive spending and big government. Interventions by the BOJ into markets for long term interest rate, stock and real estate seem to be a consequence opposing Volker’s ‘monetarist and neo-liberal’ regime change in the late 1970s. We see global capitalism ­transforming itself not only due to the Corona crisis but by a longer process of anti-­globalization and de-capitalization.

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  • Yasuyuki Todo
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 99-124
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: March 09, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This paper surveys studies on how the economic effect of lockdown and other policies associated with the pandemic of Covid-19 propagates through global supply chains that were conducted during the pandemic period. In particular, this paper ­focuses on (1) studies in the early period of the pandemic that predict that the propagation effect would be quite large, (2) empirical studies on the effect of Covid-19 on international trade, and (3) studies on factors of robust and resilient supply chains during the pandemic.

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  • Yuki Masujima
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 125-153
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: March 09, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    This paper investigates how exchange rate determinants and channels of its movement changed amid the Covid-19 crisis, compared to during the Global financial Crisis and a normal period. During the pandemic, synchronicity of fiscal and monetary policy among major economies and trade effects associated with economic activity differentials between home and overseas appear to offset some of exchange rate movements driven by yield differentials and safe-haven effects. In the post-Covid period, structural changes such as digitalization of services and climate change could re-focus trade factors as exchange rate determinants, in addition to investment and financial factors.

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  • Tatsufumi Yamagata
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 155-184
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: March 09, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    2001 WTO Doha Declaration and Advance Market Commitment (AMC), which were both designed to promote supply of medicines and vaccines for HIV/AIDS and neglected tropical diseases in the beginning of this century, were applied for furthering COVID-19 vaccine supply to developing countries in 2021. AMC was developed into COVAX, which is a COVID-19 vaccine distribution mechanism. Both COVAX and self-motivated vaccine developers individually contributed to swift inventions of a variety of COVID-19 vaccines and considerably low prices of them. The centralized policy instrument, ­i.e. COVAX, and decentralized innovation activities made by private pharmaceuticals firms, played important and reinforcing roles each other.

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  • Kiichiro Fukasaku
    2022 Volume 73 Pages 185-211
    Published: 2022
    Released on J-STAGE: August 26, 2022
    Advance online publication: March 09, 2022
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

    Ending the COVID-19 pandemic requires the advance vaccine purchase contracts of the COVAX Facility to be duly implemented. It is also necessary to transfer vaccine technology and know-how to developing countries and increase local production and prepare for inoculation. Developed countries must continue both ramping up existing vaccines and developing the next-generation ones and curative drugs that are easy to administer. To keep these requirements in balance, it would be most realistic to make the best use of flexibilities built into the Revised TRIPS Agreement of the WTO.

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