In this session of the Shorenstein APARC Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellows Research Presentations, the following will be presented:

Hirofumi Takinami, "Political Economy of the Financial Crises in Japan & United States - A Comparative Study on the Bailout of Financial Institutions"

Currently, the United States is suffering from a financial crisis.  Japan has struggled with a financial crisis from the late 1990's to the early 2000's.  What implications can be drawn from these crisis experiences of the two largest economies in the world?  As one part of a collaborative research with Professor Phillip Lipscy on "Policy Innovation in Japan and the United States:  A Comparative Study of Response to Finiancial Crises", Takinami analyzes which elements are crucial in the use of bailout of financial institutions as a means to address financial crises.  Stressing that taxpayers' understanding and market sentiment are key, he makes arguments especially on the "learning effect" of Japanese financial crisis and the importance of action by the national leader and his/her secretarial organizations.

Takashi Uchida, "Comparative Research Study of Manufacturing Between the United States and Japan"

Manufacturing consists of upstream (raw material suppliers), middle stream (casting, dyes, metal press, etc.) and downstream (automobile companies, machinery companies, and electric companies).  To accurately view the structure of manufacturing as "supply chain", Uchida analyzes where manufacturing value comes from.  In particular, Uchida takes a look at the automobile market, comparing the difference between manufacturing in Japan and the United States.

Zheng Wang, "Valuation and Integration of Intangible Assets in Mergers and Acquisitions"

In modern economies, a large proportion of a company's assets tend to be intangible, such as brand names.  Intangible assets have become one of the key factors behind a company's competitive strength.  In particular, obtaining a target's intangible assets has been the major driving force in M&A activities during the past years.

M&A for intangible assets tends to be more complicated than for tangible assets, mainly due to the challenges in terms of valuation and post-deal integration.  In this research presentation, Wang analyzes some special issues in valuation and integration of intangible assets in M&As, and tries to draw useful lessons on M&A for intangible assets through case study.