The establishment of new corporates and farms is an innovation for the formation of new organizations, as well as economic activities contributing to the revitalization and sustainable development of a region.　The purpose of this study was to clarify entrepreneurship in agriculture through the analysis of factors that determine new firm formation and business diversification and compare them to whole industries.　First, we conducted a fixed effects model analysis using two-point panel data to explain the rate of new firm formation and business diversification in agriculture for each prefecture in Japan.　Secondly, we indirectly identified entrepreneurship through measured fixed effects and created a prefecture-level index of entrepreneurship.　Thirdly, we explored factors that influence entrepreneurship in agriculture at the regional level based on economic and social statistics and the results of a questionnaire survey on entrepreneurial attitudes.　Finally, we derived policy implications that contribute to the promotion of entrepreneurship in agriculture based on the results of the above analyses, and compared them with whole industries.　The results of the analysis above of new firm formation and entrepreneurship revealed the following.

　　Regional differences in entrepreneurship at the local level and fixed effects are significant for new firm formation in whole industries and agriculture, as well as business diversification in agriculture.　Furthermore, differences in factors affecting the fixed effects between all industries and agriculture imply that agriculture is relatively inferior in terms of choice of target businesses and new firm formation, and business diversification in agriculture is not a true result of entrepreneurship at the local level.　In other words, these activities merely reflect the incorporation of a farm business, including community farming.　The processing and direct sales of agricultural products are often carried out as part of local government initiatives to revitalize a community and show policy support.　Therefore, in order to realize sustainability in agriculture, policies are important to promote the accumulation of social capital, which will bring entrepreneurship at the level of individuals as well as the implementation of new businesses and business diversification.

JEL Classifications:C23, L26, M13, Q12

　　In the conventional trade models such as the Ricardian and Heckscher-Ohiln model, the law of comparative advantage prevails when a country exports with an autarkic relative price is lower than the other countries when there are no market failures.　Introduction of public intermediate goods generally disturbs the general equilibrium of the economy depending on how much is supplied, so the law of comparative advantage as described may not hold under free trade.　When a public intermediate goods the type of defined by Meade（1952） are introduced into a traditional neoclassical trade model, the production possibility frontier has a shape strictly convex to the origin.　This may bring forth of a pattern of trade that does not follow the law of comparative advantage even with reasonable behavior of the government to supply the public intermediate goods.　This paper considers two different ways of supplying the public intermediate goods that a government adopts in a Ricardian model with a public intermediate goods.　Then we show that, while both ways are efficient, but one way maintains the law of comparative advantage whereas the other one does not.　However, both ways assure the gains from trade.

JEL Classifications:R1, A5

　　In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of rooftop farms in megacities such as Tokyo, making use of the “rooftop” space unlike conventional urban agriculture that relies mainly on farmland.　Rooftop farms （RTFs） attract attention not only as a stable food supply, but also for responding to the diverse needs of urban residents.　On the other hand, as a relatively new form of urban agriculture, RTFs face many problems and may not be able to fulfill their expected roles.　In this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey on the involvement and evaluation of RTFs mainly among the residents of Tokyo, and clarified various issues for promoting RTFs.　In addition, we introduced Structural Equation Modeling （SEM） to the results of the questionnaire survey to clarify urban resident perceptions and involvement in urban agriculture and their evaluation of the expected functions of RTFs.

　　From the results of the analysis, it became clear that rooftop farms can meet the needs of urban residents for agricultural experience and communication creation in large cities where land resources are limited while at the same time influencing their level of satisfaction with their lives.　On the other hand, it also became clear that the percentage of the residents that experienced RTF were small, but the satisfaction of those who experienced it was high.　This indicates problems in the spread of rooftop farms in Tokyo.　Therefore, in order to achieve sustainable development of cities, the factors that hinder the spread of urban agriculture （including rooftop farms）, and the design policies and institutional measures to eliminate them need to be clarified.

JEL Classification:Q01

　　Mount Fuji is an active volcano with a history of great damage from its eruption.　This study aimed to investigate how production activities in 47 prefectures of Japan recover after an eruption.　We developed a dynamic inter-regional input-output model with a production bottleneck based on a shortage of goods and disruption in transportation.　This model also considered post-disaster production plans, and the role of inventories and support from imported goods.　Using the simulation model, economic damages were evaluated based on several hypothetical scenarios and cases depending on different recovery situations.　The analysis of virtual scenarios, classified as optimistic, base and pessimistic, showed that recovery of the production sector was delayed when direct damage to the disaster area was larger.　In addition, the analysis of impacts on the regional economy with domestic traffic disruptions revealed a negative impact on production activities in the disaster area for a short term from traffic disruption due to volcanic ash.　However, the long-term and wide-area effects are avoided if the volcanic ash is properly removed at an early stage.　On the other hand, a shortage of imported goods causes significant effects on production bottlenecks and delays in economic recovery.　Even in areas not directly affected by the eruption, the effects tend to spread over a wide area if a shortage of imported goods continues.　This hypothetical analysis provides useful information for crisis management and resilience policies.

JEL Classifications:Q54, R15

　　 The Bhutanese government initiated the central school program as per the Bhutan Education Blueprint 2014-2024 to increase human capital accumulation, which subsidized education expenditures and was gradually extended over the years and currently covers about 28% of total students in Bhutan. Given the fiscal constraints, we use the two-period OLG model with endogenous growth fueled by human capital to calibrate a model using Bhutan’s existing central school policies and simulate the coverage to all students, and evaluate the effects on the economic growth rate. We found that the economic growth rate was initially higher by 2.285 percent on average when the increase in education subsidies is financed through debt. However, after the fourth period, the economic growth rate was higher by an average of 0.331 percent when the increased subsidy was financed through tax during the transition and at the steady growth path. Additionally, in light of the declining population growth rate in Bhutan, we simulated the effect of the decrease in population growth rate on the economy. We concluded that to finance the extension of central school program in the short-run, debt financing is preferable, however, in the long-run tax financing is preferable from the viewpoint of economic growth.

JEL Classifications:C68, E62, F35, H24, H62

　　Numerous papers evaluate the impacts of climate change on crop yield by applying two types of methods.　One is a simulation analysis with process-based-models that represents the key processes governing how plants grow.　The other is a statistical model estimation to obtain parameters that represent the yield of a plant with variables of interest such as temperature, precipitation, etc.

　　Process-based-models cost more to build than statistical models.　Therefore process-based-models are usually used for major crops.　As for sweet potato, there are few process-based models.　Statistical models have advantages in that they cost less than process-based-models and consider unknown processes that a process-based model cannot handle.

　　Preceding studies showed there is an effect of CO₂ on fertilization in many crops, such as rice, wheat and potato.　However, whether CO₂ increases the yield of sweet potato is not clear.　Sweet potato production is concentrated in the Kanto and Kyushu areas of Japan.　In Kanto, sweet potato is mainly used for raw consumption, whereas in Kyushu the main use of sweet potato is alcohol or starch production.　There is also a distinction in potato variety used and climatic conditions between the Kanto and Kyushu areas.　Therefore, the impacts of climate change on sweet potato yield likely differ between the Kanto and Kyushu areas.

　　This study first investigated how sweet potatoes react to CO₂ concentrations that is not well considered in existing process-based-models about sweet potato.　Second, I considered regional differences in the climatic impacts on sweet potato production in the main sweet potato production areas of Japan, Kagoshima and Ibaraki Prefectures.

　　The results of analysis suggest there is no clear cut relationship between yield of sweet potato and CO₂ concentrations.　This implies no supportive evidence to add CO₂ to the input of a process-based model.　Second, after confirming that CO2 does not have an effect on sweet potato yield, this study rebuilt statistical models without CO₂.　These models implied that Kagoshima Prefecture is more sensitive to a rise in temperature than Ibaraki Prefecture, and both prefectures have experienced decreasing yields after the end of the 20th Century, Kagoshima Prefecture appears to have a more severe downward change.

JEL Classifications:Q54, C51

　　The growth of tourism has become one social phenomenon connected with the development of transportation networks （convenience and speeding up of transportation）.　Meals are essential for travelers to recognize the true value of regions through the history, traditions, local cuisine and unique gastronomic heritage of each region.　In recent years, local food resources as one important cultural commodity for tourism development has attracted attention.

　　However, previous studies on tourism have focused on creating tourism attractions through the development of tourism resources and facilities to meet the demands of tourists.　In addition, there have been empirical analyses on factors affecting the performance of the tourism industry, but there is limited analysis considering food as one of the tourism resources.　Therefore, the purpose of this study was to clarify the impacts of cultural tourism resources including food, on tourism performance in Japan.　Specifically, we introduced a correlation analysis and structural equation modeling （SEM） to prefectural-level statistical data to clarify the impacts of cultural resources on the development of tourism in each region.

　　The results of the path analysis showed a strong positive relationship between cultural attraction indicators and tourism performance, but a weak positive relationship was detected between regional and food-related attractiveness indicators and tourism performance.　Additionally, this tendency was strong in the results of 39 prefectures excluding the three major metropolitan areas.　Tourist facilities and tourism resources may eventually improve tourism performance by being developed as attractive tourism attractions through two-way communication between tourist destinations, related businesses and consumers.　However, the strength of rural food is more likely to be recognized as the production area for agriculture, forestry and fishery products rather than as an attractive tourist destination in the current tourism of Japan.　Therefore, measures are needed to integrate local food resources with other tourist attractions to fully utilize the strengths of food as a tourist destination.

JEL Classification:Q01

　　Hiroshima is one city in Japan with a high level of sport spectatorship.　When cities with sport-related resources recognize the importance of building place attachment among local residents through sport teams as a community bonding resource, activities to attract more event attendees or local residents using their professional sport teams activities can be encouraged.　In addition, psychologically, local residents develop a strong bond with local sport teams based on their accumulated experiences.　Generally speaking, some findings confirm that team image is a critical factor leading to place attachment.　However, studies that verify these findings are lacking.　This study was conducted in two major professional sport settings:professional baseball and professional basketball.　First, data was collected from spectators attending a home game of the professional basketball team, the Hiroshima Dragonflies.　From the 330 questionnaires distributed, 292 usable questionnaires were collected, data for 248 respondents excluding 44 out-of-prefecture residents were used.　For the baseball sample, data was collected from spectators attending a professional baseball game at Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium.　Questionnaires were distributed to individuals in the stadium at the end of the game.　From the 1,000 questionnaires distributed, 241 usable questionnaires were collected, data for 188 respondents excluding 53 out-of-prefecture residents were used.　Findings revealed that both teams showed place attachment affects the quality of team image.　For the Dragonflies, high and low team identification were shown to affect place attachment.　For the Carp, the interactions between team image and team identification significantly affected place attachment, with lower team identification increasing place attachment more than a positive team image.　The results suggest that improving team image may increase place attachment among spectators with low team identification.　From the standpoint of a regional sports team that claims to be community-based, there is a need for two-way direct and indirect exchanges that deepen ties through social contribution activities and other initiatives to connect with the community, as well as proactive acceptance of support and assistance activities from local residents.　In conclusion, （1） team image is related to place attachment, and （2） team identification may play a role as a moderating variable for enhancing place attachment due to unique team attributes.

JEL Classifications:L83, Z29, M31, R11, D91

　　The purpose of this study was to examine the degree of capitalization of local public goods and finances in urban and non-urban areas.　Based on the model of Brueckner （1982）, the land price function was estimated using panel data.

　　In the metropolitan employment areas （MetEAs）, education and environmental hygiene sectors had negative impacts, and the welfare sector had a positive impact on land prices.　However, community infrastructure and land conservation sectors were not significant.　In the non-urban employment areas （NonEA）, only the education sector was significant and had a negative impact on land prices.　These are reasonable results in light of recent social conditions and the results of previous studies.

　　Local government bonds are expected to have a negative impact on land prices from a theoretical model.　In MetEA, the local government bonds were not significant, but they had a negative impact on land prices.　By contrast, the local government bonds had a positive impact on land prices in NonEA.　The functions of local government bonds may differ in the financial structure of municipalities in MetEA and NonEA.

　　These results indicate the degree of capitalization depends on and varies with regional characteristics.　In particular, differences in the degree of capitalization of local government bonds require examination of theoretical mechanisms and accumulation of further empirical studies.

JEL Classifications:R32, R51, R53