Okinawa: women, bases and US-Japan relations

The goal of this paper is to examine the process by which rapesand other acts of sexual violence lead to changes in internationalrelations. This paper focuses on the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirlin 1995 because it presents a mysterious puzzle: given the changinginternational structural and epistemic environment, why didthe US and Japanese governments fail to answer local calls formeasures to prevent future rapes and other crimes by soldiers,perhaps by reducing the size of US forces deployed in Okinawa?By looking into factors that affected the decision-making processwithin the US and Japanese governments, this paper tries toexplain why the issue of US bases in Okinawa evolved in theway it has since 1995.     

Housing Subsidies and Early Childhood Development: A Comprehensive Review of Policies and Demonstration Projects

ABSTRACT

In this article, we ask how housing subsidies might influence young children. We examine two national housing policies – public housing assistance and the Section 8 vouchers program – and two demonstration projects that aimed to improve the administration of providing housing subsidies – HOPE (Homeownership Opportunities for People Everywhere) VI and Moving to Opportunity. This article is a critical examination of these policies and demonstration projects in relation to the following housing dimensions that promote the healthy development of young children: income supplements residential stability, physical environment, access to services and amenities, housing choice, neighborhood safety, and social capital. We compared advantages and limitations of each of these national housing policies and demonstration projects and examined ways in which they might influence children in these housing dimensions. The article concludes with implications and future research directions for U.S. housing policy by discussing its most recent U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) initiative, Rental Assistance Demonstration, in addressing limitations of housing policies and demonstration projects we examined.     

FDI and the Dynamics of Productivity in Indonesian Manufacturing

This article examines productivity growth in the Indonesian manufacturing sector. We use a longitudinal data set to calculate the effects on aggregate manufacturing productivity growth from improvements within establishments, from reallocation of market shares, and from the turnover of plants. Productivity growth is mainly explained by reallocation of market shares and from turnover of plants. Moreover, the foreign contribution to productivity growth is unclear and depends on the choice of productivity measure. A cautious conclusion is that the foreign contribution is about the same size as the foreign share of manufacturing output. Finally, there is a difference in the causes of productivity growth between foreign and domestic plants.