We examine the determinants of environmental quality by using carbon dioxide emission levels as a proxy for environmental degradation. Our confirmatory, but different approach to analyzing Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) patterns in the data yield results that do not always agree with those found in the literature, which itself has no conclusive answer as to whether an EKC exists. We find tha...

The preceding chapters have explored the determinants of income inequality at the level of the individuals and families who live, work and raise their children within a national economy. We have seen that certain key characteristics of the individuals in the family, most notably the education of the household’s adult members, are important determinants of the household’s decisions about labor f...

Suicide among children is considered to be a rare event, although it is still one of the leading causes of death in children younger than 15 years of age worldwide (Pelkonen & Marttunen, 2003; Vajani, Annest, Crosby, Alexander, & Mille, 2007). Compared to other age groups, the prevalence of suicide in children is more likely to be underestimated (Beautrais, 2001; Crepeau-Hobson, 2010; Fortune &...

Three years ago at this same conference, I was given an opportunity to talk about Japan’s monetary policy in the years when asset price bubbles expanded.1 Today, I would like mainly to review monetary policy in the following phase when the bubbles burst, for an asset price swing is the “changing economic environment” most relevant to us. Incidentally, we are now in the third phase when the econ...