ABE FELLOWSHIP COLLOQUIUM

The Impact of Disasters on Trade: A Detailed Look at Katrina (US) and 3-11 (Japan)

Speaker： Craig PARSONS　
Professor, Faculty of Economics, Yokohama National University/ Abe Fellow (2012)

Moderator： Etsuro SHIOJI　
Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University/ Abe Fellow (2010)

When： Friday, March 27th 2015, from 6 pm to 8 pm (an informal reception follows)

Where? Sakura Hall, 2nd Floor, Japan Foundation, 4-4-1 Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo
http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/about/outline/contact/map.html

Note： Simultaneous interpretation will be available. Admission is free.

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Email: ssrcABE@gol.com Fax: 03-5369-6142 Phone: 03-5369-6085
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This event is jointly sponsored by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Tokyo Office and Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP).
 
2015/3/27
ABE FELLOWSHIP COLLOQUIUM
The Impact of Disasters on Trade: A Detailed Look at Katrina (US) and 3-11 (Japan)

Unlike other macroeconomic shocks, such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, the effect of disasters on imports and exports can and does vary widely across events. While any disaster generally reduces trade, at least in the short run, the US trade bounced back roughly 6 months after Katrina stuck. In sharp contrast, Japan went from trade surplus to trade deficit in a matter of months following 3-11. How much of this was a fall in exports, and how much can be attributed to the massive increase in fossil fuel imports in the wake of nuclear plant shutdowns?

Are there other major sources of Japan’s newfound deficit? Would Japan return to a trade surplus if they went back to pre-disaster nuclear use? These questions and more will be discussed and the future of Japan’s trade deficit in this post 3-11 world will be explored.

Biographical Information

Craig Parsons is a Professor at the Faculty of Economics at Yokohama University, a position he has held since 2001, and was an Abe Fellow in 2012. He received his BA from Rutgers University and PhD from the University of Hawaii Manoa. His research area is empirical trade, that is, the econometric analysis of trade data. Research in the past has included VIE (voluntary import expansion) such as the US-Japan Semiconductor Trade Agreements in the late 1980s, as well as Exchange Rate Pass-Through. Recent works includes measurement of the level of competition and/or collusion in the Japanese beer and tire markets. During the year of his Abe Fellowship, he visited the University of Hawaii and several universities on the US East Coast (University of Delaware Disaster Center, CUNY, Rutgers, Bryn Mawr, etc.) and produced several papers on the impact of disasters on trade. He is a very active member of the East Asian Economic Association and an editor of the Asian Economic Journal.