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This book records the first success stories of a new form of financial intermediation, the hometown investment fund, that has become a national strategy in Japan, partly to meet the need to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The hometown investment fund has three main advantages. First, it contributes to financial market stability by lowering information asymmetry. Individual households and firms have direct access to information about the borrowing firms, mainly SMEs, that they lend to. Second, it is a stable source of risk capital. The fund is project driven. Firms and households decide to invest by getting to know the borrowers and their projects. In this way the fund distributes risk but not so that it renders risk intractable, which was the problem with the “originate and distribute” model. Third, it contributes to economic recovery by connecting firms and households with SMEs that are worthy of their support. It also creates employment opportunities, at the SMEs as well as for the pool of retirees from financial institutions who can help assess the projects. Introduction of the hometown investment fund has huge global implications. The world is seeking a method of financial intermediation that minimizes information asymmetry, distributes risk without making it opaque, and contributes to economic recovery. Funds similar to Japan’s hometown investment fund can succeed in all three ways. After all, the majority of the world’s businesses are SMEs. The first chapter explains the theory behind this method, and the following chapters relate success stories from Japan and other parts of Asia. This book should encourage policymakers, economists, lenders, and borrowers, especially in developing countries, to adopt this new form of financial intermediation, thus contributing to global economic stability.

Economics. --- Finance. --- Investments -- Japan. --- Investments, Foreign -- Japan. --- Political Science --- Law, Politics & Government --- Public Finance --- Investments --- Stock exchanges --- Bulls and bears --- Commercial corners --- Corners, Commercial --- Equity markets --- Exchanges, Securities --- Exchanges, Stock --- Securities exchanges --- Stock-exchange --- Stock markets --- Investing --- Investment management --- Portfolio --- Entrepreneurship. --- Business ethics. --- Macroeconomics. --- Public finance. --- Public Economics. --- Finance, general. --- Macroeconomics/Monetary Economics//Financial Economics. --- Business Ethics. --- Capital market --- Efficient market theory --- Speculation --- Finance --- Disinvestment --- Loans --- Saving and investment --- Business --- Businesspeople --- Commercial ethics --- Corporate ethics --- Corporation ethics --- Professional ethics --- Wealth --- Entrepreneur --- Intrapreneur --- Capitalism --- Business incubators --- Economics --- Funding --- Funds --- Currency question --- Cameralistics --- Public finance --- Moral and ethical aspects --- Public finances

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This book discusses Japan’s long-term economic recession and provides remedies for that recession that are useful for other Asian economies. The book addresses why Japan’s economy has stagnated since the bursting of its economic bubble in the 1990s. Its empirical analysis challenges the beliefs of some economists, such as Paul Krugman, that the Japanese economy is caught in a liquidity trap. This book argues that Japan’s economic stagnation stems from a vertical “investment–saving” (IS) curve rather than a liquidity trap. The impact of fiscal policy has declined drastically, and the Japanese economy faces structural problems rather than a temporary downturn. These structural problems have many causes: an aging demographic (a problem that is frequently overlooked), an over-reliance by local governments on transfers from the central government, and Basel capital requirements that have made Japanese banks reluctant to lend money to start-up businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises. This latter issue has discouraged Japanese innovation and technological progress. All these issues are addressed empirically and theoretically, and several remedies for Japan’s long-lasting recession are provided. This volume will be of interest to researchers and policy makers not only in Japan but also the People’s Republic of China, many countries in the eurozone, and the United States, which may face similar challenges in the future.

Macroeconomics. --- Population. --- Economic growth. --- Economics. --- Economic Growth. --- Macroeconomics/Monetary Economics//Financial Economics. --- Population Economics. --- Japan --- Economic conditions --- Economic policy --- Human population --- Human populations --- Population growth --- Populations, Human --- Economics --- Human ecology --- Sociology --- Demography --- Malthusianism --- Development, Economic --- Economic growth --- Growth, Economic --- Statics and dynamics (Social sciences) --- Development economics --- Resource curse

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Poverty --- Government policy --- Destitution --- Wealth --- Basic needs --- Begging --- Poor --- Subsistence economy

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While oil price fluctuations in the past can be explained by pure supply factors, this book argues that it is monetary policy that plays a significant role in setting global oil prices. It is a key factor often neglected in much of the earlier literature on the determinants of asset prices, including oil prices. However, this book presents a framework for modeling oil prices while incorporating monetary policy. It also provides a complete theoretical basis of the determinants of crude oil prices and the transmission channels of oil shocks to the economy. Moreover, using several up-to-date surveys and examples from the real world, this book gives insight into the empirical side of energy economics. The empirical studies offer explanations for the impact of monetary policy on crude oil prices in different periods including during the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008–2009, the impact of oil price variations on developed and emerging economies, the effectiveness of monetary policy in the Japanese economy incorporating energy prices, and the macroeconomic impacts of oil price movements in trade-linked cases. This must-know information on energy economics is presented in a reader-friendly format without being overloaded with excessive and complicated calculations.

Macroeconomics. --- Petroleum industry and trade --- Petroleum products --- Monetary policy --- Industries --- Business & Economics --- Economic aspects --- Prices --- Monetary policy. --- Prices. --- Economic aspects. --- Petroleum --- Monetary management --- Energy industries --- Oil industries --- Economic policy --- Currency boards --- Money supply --- Development economics. --- International economics. --- Macroeconomics/Monetary Economics//Financial Economics. --- Energy Policy, Economics and Management. --- Fossil Fuels (incl. Carbon Capture). --- Development Economics. --- International Economics. --- Economic policy, Foreign --- Economic relations, Foreign --- Economics, International --- Foreign economic policy --- Foreign economic relations --- Interdependence of nations --- International economic policy --- International economics --- New international economic order --- International relations --- Economic sanctions --- Economics --- Economic development --- Energy policy. --- Energy and state. --- Fossil fuels. --- Fossil energy --- Fuel --- Energy minerals --- Energy and state --- Power resources --- State and energy --- Industrial policy --- Energy conservation --- Government policy

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This handbook deals with various financial instruments, policies, and strategies in a policy-oriented approach for financing green energy projects. Recently, global investment in renewables and energy efficiency has declined, and there is a risk that it will slow further, Clearly, fossil fuels still dominate energy investments. This trend could threaten the expansion of green energy needed to meet energy security, climate, and clean-air goals. Several developed and developing economies are still following pro-coal energy policies. The extra CO2 generated from new coal-fired power plants could more than eliminate any reductions in emissions made by other nations. Finance is the engine of development of infrastructural projects, including energy projects. By providing several thematic and country chapters, this handbook explains that if we plan to achieve sustainable development goals, we need to create opportunities for new green projects and scale up the financing of investments that furnish environmental benefits. New financial instruments and policies such as green bonds, green banks, carbon market instruments, fiscal policy, green central banking, fintech, and community-based green funds are among the chief components that make up green finance. Naoyuki Yoshino is Dean, Asian Development Bank Institute and Professor Emeritus, Keio University. Jeffery Sachs is Director, Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Wing Thye Woo is Professor of Economics, U.C. Davis. Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary is Assistant Professor, Waseda University.

Economic development projects—Finance. --- Economic development—Environmental aspects. --- Natural resources. --- Development Finance. --- Development and Sustainability. --- Natural Resource and Energy Economics.