PUBLICATIONS & REPORTS
PUBLICATIONS & REPORTS
From Kitakyushu to the world: AGI, a research institute that studies Asia's economy and society
Ethnic Mix and Economic Performance in Japanese Cities
| Author | Eui-Gak Hwang, Kazuhiko Yokota |
|---|---|
| Date of Publication | 2008. 12 |
| No. | 2008-26 |
| Download | 173KB |
Contents Introduction
This paper presents an examination of immigration and economic performance in major Japanese cities. Panel data of large Japanese cities––the 13 largest cities––during 1984–2005 are analyzed. Traditional economic growth approaches from the literature and cultural diversity concepts reveal a positive relation between immigration into Japan and a city’s economic performance. These results are robust after controlling for endogeneity problems that often result from simultaneity bias. These are the first reported empirical findings showing that cultural interaction among different social values spurs economic growth of a city, even in a homogeneous society such as Japan’s.