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This book discusses imaginary future generations and how current decision-making will influence those future generations. Markets are excellent devices to equate supply and demand in the short term, but not for allocating resources between current and future generations, since future generations do not exist yet.

This book combines the fundamentals of economics, technology, and policy in deriving feasible solutions to facilitate the large-scale development of renewables in the ASEAN. A unique feature of this book is documenting that achieving large-scale renewables deployment inevitably requires combining these three distinct but interrelated forces of economics, technology, and policy. The economic foundations are guided by the microeconomic foundations grounded on economic efficiency and the associated market designs to deliver short-run economic efficiency including the application of auction designs and cost-benefit analysis. The role of battery technology and utility-scale batteries as enabling technologies for large-scale deployment of renewable energy is evidenced through energy modeling techniques. This book also pays particular emphasis on identifying key policy barriers of large-scale renewable development and pathways to overcome them such as the importance of carbon pricing in ASEANcountries and cross-border electricity trade to improve energy security by achieving clean energy targets. Country-specific case studies and regional case studies are used to study the economic, technological, and policy facets of large-scale renewable development with a view to derive policy lessons and recommendations in decarbonizing economic regions such as the ASEAN. The case studies are carefully selected and supported by rigorous data analysis and modeling as appropriate. This book on energy economics and policy is highly recommended to readers who seek an in-depth and robust overview on the recent empirical evidences of facilitating the large-scale development of renewables with a particular reference to the ASEAN and Asian economies including India and China.

This book explores how the business transformation taking place in Japan is influenced by the digital revolution. The chapters present approaches and examples from sectors commonly understood to be visible arenas of digital transformation¿3D printing and mobility, for instance¿as well as some from not-so-obvious sectors, such as retail, services, and fintech.Business today is facing unprecedented change especially due to the adoption of new, digital technologies, with a noticeable transformation of manufacturing and services. The changes have been brought by advanced robotics, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and digital networks that are growing in size and capability as the number of connected devices explodes. In addition, there are advanced manufacturing and collaborative connected platforms, including machine-to-machine communications. Adoption of digital technology has caused process disruptions in both the manufacturing and services sectors and led to new business models and new products. While examining the preparedness of the Japanese economy to embrace these changes, the book explores the impact of digitally influenced changes on some selected sectors from a Japanese perspective. It paints a big picture in explaining how a previously manufacturing-centric, successful economy adopts change to retain and rebuild success in the global environment. Japan as a whole is embracing, yet also avoiding¿innovating but also restricting¿various forms of digitalization of life and work. The book, with its 12 chapters, is a collaborative effort of individuals contributing diverse points of view as technologists, academics, and managers.

This book aims to fill the literature gap on digital instruments and FinTech in enhancing green finance. Technological innovation can increase transparency, accountability, and speed, decentralize the financial system, improve risk management, increase competition, lower costs, improve efficiency, increase cross-sectoral collaboration and integration, and scale up green finance. Artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledger technologies (DLT) or blockchain, peer-to-peer lending platforms, big data,  Internet-based and mobile-based payment platforms, Internet of Things (IoT), matchmaking platforms including crowdlending, tokenizing green assets are potential means to scale up the green finance for achieving the SDGs. The COVID-19 pandemic, the economic downturns, and the uncertainties shrank the new investments in renewable energy projects globally. Low investment in renewable energy projects could threaten the expansion of green energy needed to provide energy security and meet SDG7 and SDG13. Investments in renewable energy projects are scarce because of several risks and a low rate of return. Although several new green financing solutions such as green bonds, green banks, green credit guarantee, carbon taxation, carbon trade, village funds, and community trust funds have been established in different countries, these are insufficient, and alternative ways to finance projects are required. The book provides several high-quality studies on utilizing digitalization, FinTech, financial innovations, and other new technologies to fill the finance gap of green projects to meet the SDG goals. The chapters are written by scholars in diverse countries and regions and include practical policy recommendations.

This book is devoted to investigating the policy design and effectiveness of financial and market-based instruments to promote energy efficiency financing. The concept of this monograph is to present the latest results related to energy efficiency funding schemes, energy efficiency obligations, voluntary agreements, auction mechanisms, and Super Energy Services Companies (Super ESCOs) in major jurisdictions across the world.  The book focuses on financial and market-based instruments as they deliver a price signal, which provides an incentive for firms to invest in innovation or implement more energy-efficient technologies and deliver energy savings while minimizing costs. Such instruments can have significant advantages for the government, supporting the fiscal sustainability of the government's energy efficiency efforts, requiring less enforcement than regulation and according the market flexibility to select the most cost-efficient technologies. This book is highly recommended to researchers, policy experts, and business specialists who seek an in-depth and up-to-date integrated overview of energy efficiency financing. 

This open access book evaluates, from an economic perspective, various measures introduced in Japan to prevent climate change.

This edited book explores the complex and multifaceted connections between education and migration in an Asian context from multiple perspectives.

This book is devoted to investigating the policy design and effectiveness of financial and market-based instruments to promote energy efficiency financing.

This book provides several up-to-date empirical policy-oriented studies on assessing the impacts of climate change on various economic sectors and the role of renewable energy resources in mitigating pollution and climate change.

This book provides practical policy recommendations that are useful for developing Asia and for accelerating poverty reduction plans in the rest of the world. Poverty reduction, inclusive growth, and sustainable development are inseparable, and poverty reduction is the premise for sustainable development.

The central theme of this book is national land and infrastructure design in the age of the declining population and the recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake in the affected regions in Japan. Under the ongoing declining population in Japan, an undesirable concentration in Tokyo will proceed further with increasing social cost and risk.

The TPP was negotiated among 12 economically diverse countries, including some most highly developed and rich countries (i.e., the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore), some newly industrialized countries (i.e., Mexico and Malaysia), and some less-developed countries (i.e., Peru, Chile, and Vietnam).

This open access book presents the first step towards building socio-life science, a field of science investigating humans in such a way that both social and life-scientific factors are integrated.

This open access book presents the first step towards building socio-life science, a field of science investigating humans in such a way that both social and life-scientific factors are integrated.

This open access book provides an in-depth examination of Japan's policy responses to the economic challenges of the 1980s and '90s.

This open access book contributes to the creation of a cyber ecosystem supported by blockchain technology in which technology and people can coexist in harmony. Blockchains have shown that trusted records, or ledgers, of permanent data can be stored on the Internet in a decentralized manner. The decentralization of the recording process is expected to significantly economize the cost of transactions.Creating a ledger on data, a blockchain makes it possible to designate the owner of each piece of data, to trade data pieces, and to market them. This book examines the formation of markets for various types of data from the theory of market quality proposed and developed by M. Yano. Blockchains are expected to give data itself the status of a new production factor. Bringing ownership of data to the hands of data producers, blockchains can reduce the possibility of information leakage, enhance the sharing and use of IoT data, and prevent data monopoly and misuse.The industry will have a bright future as soon as better technology is developed and when a healthy infrastructure is created to support the blockchain market.  

This open access book evaluates, from an economic perspective, various measures introduced in Japan to prevent climate change.

This book seeks to answer the questions: how do the rules of international treaties on trade and investment apply to the new laws and policies relating to energy-related trade, and do the rules of the multilateral system contribute to or detract from sustainable development?

This book focuses on the interaction and mutual influences between the East and the West in terms of their legal systems and practices. In this regard, it highlights Professor Herbert H.P. Ma's achievements and his efforts to bring Eastern and Western legal concepts and systems closer together.The book shows that, while there have been convergences between different legal regimes in many fields of law, diverse legal practices and approaches rooted in differing cultural, social, political and philosophical backgrounds do remain, and that these differences are not necessarily negative elements in the contemporary legal order. By examining different levels of the legal order, including domestic, regional and multilateral, it goes on to argue that identifying these diversities and addressing the interactions and mutual influences between different regimes is a worthwhile undertaking, not only in terms of mutual enrichment, but also with regard to intensifying the degree of desirable coordination between different legal systems.All chapters were written by leading experts, practitioners and scholars from different jurisdictions with expertise in various fields of law and different levels of the legal order, and discuss a number of issues with particular focus on either "one-way" or mutual influences between the Eastern and the Western legal systems, practices and philosophies.

This book tells a story of Taiwan's transformation from an authoritarian regime to a democratic system where human rights are protected as required by international human rights treaties.

The TPP was negotiated among 12 economically diverse countries, including some most highly developed and rich countries (i.e., the United States, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore), some newly industrialized countries (i.e., Mexico and Malaysia), and some less-developed countries (i.e., Peru, Chile, and Vietnam).

This book discusses imaginary future generations and how current decision-making will influence those future generations. Markets are excellent devices to equate supply and demand in the short term, but not for allocating resources between current and future generations, since future generations do not exist yet.

This book compares legally allowed dismissal conditions in employment contracts in Taiwan and Japan and then examines the possibility of introducing the Taiwan-style severance payment system into Japanese employment contracts. A significant difference exists between employment regulations of Japan and Taiwan.