Elastic labor supply and agglomeration

This study analyzes the interplay between the agglomeration of economic activities and interregional differences in working hours, which are typically longer in large cities, as they are normally more developed than small cities. For this purpose, we develop a two‐region model with endogenous labor supply. Although we assume a symmetric distribution of immobile workers, the symmetric equilibrium breaks in the sense that firms may agglomerate when trade costs are intermediate and labor supply is elastic. We also show that the price index is always lower, while labor supply, per capita income, real wages, and welfare are always higher in the more agglomerated region.     

Theorising economic nationalism*

Abstract. Economic nationalism has been regarded as a set of attitudes rather than a coherent theory. However, by using Durkheim's analytical framework and bringing the concept of the nation into political economy, the author argues that economic nationalism can be provided with a systematic theory. This theory for economic nationalism helps us to grasp the reciprocal relationship between the political and economic power of the nation‐state. Economic modernisation, especially industrialisation, needs the powerful state, and the state derives its power from the nation. Economic development can amplify the social imaginary of the nation by expanding mobilisation and communication. Protectionism, industrial policy and Keynesian policy can strengthen not only the economy but also nationalism. The proposed theory for economic nationalism thus paves the way for understanding the role of nationalism in political economy.     

Strontium isotope evidence of migration and diet in relation to ritual tooth ablation: a case study from the Inariyama Jomon site,Japan

Ritual tooth ablation was extensively practiced among Jomon (Japanese Neolithic) societies in their final phase (ca. 3000-2300 BP). This tradition includes two different tooth ablation patterns, type 4I and type 2C, referring to extraction of the mandibular incisors and canines, respectively. However, the reason for this difference is unclear. Previous carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human remains from the Inariyama shell mound revealed that type 4I individuals were more dependent on terrestrial resources and type 2C individuals on marine resources. To test this hypothesis, we performed strontium (Sr) isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) analyses on the same skeletal remains and on modern plants around the site. Because Sr isotope ratios of plants differ according to the local geology and seawater has a consistent Sr isotope ratio, the Sr isotope ratios of tooth enamel can reveal both migration and diet. Comparing Sr isotope ratios in plants and seawater with those of tooth enamel, we identified four possible immigrants. Type 4I locals had significantly higher Sr isotope ratios than type 2C locals. The ratios of the type 4I and type 2C locals were close to those of terrestrial plants and seawater, respectively, suggesting that type 4I locals had incorporated much Sr from terrestrial resources and type 2C locals from marine resources. These results support the hypothesis that ritual tooth ablation reflects dietary differences throughout an individual’s life, and they suggest possible occupational differentiation among the Jomon people.     

Single women and housing choices in urban Japan

Japan has experienced a particularly sharp decline in marriage in recent decades and a subsequent increase in ‘never-marrieds’ and single-person households. Social fragmentation has been associated with prolonged economic instability and neoliberalization that has restructured employment, housing and policy contexts. A particular social concern has been the difficulties facing those who do not follow conventional married life-courses. While marriage has been important to progress up a housing ladder and property asset ownership, singledom constrains housing choices and shapes very different life-chances over the life-course. This is especially true for single women who are disadvantaged in both housing and labour markets. This article examines the ongoing restructuring of housing opportunities that are helping reshape gender differences and experiences, as well as the new housing careers being followed by the growing number of urban single women in Japan. Based on interviews with female singles in metropolitan Tokyo, as well as secondary data from national surveys, the article considers how housing opportunities and choices are being renegotiated in regard to changing expectations of marriage, life-courses and home. We also reflect upon relationships between housing choices, social policy, single life-courses and processes of individualization.     

Strontium isotope analysis to reveal migration in relation to climate change and ritual tooth ablation of Jomon skeletal remains from western Japan

A gradual population increase accompanying climate cooling has been evinced as having occurred in western Japan during the Middle (ca. 5000–4000 years BP) to Late-Final Jomon period (ca. 4000–2300 years BP). We test the hypothesis that this population change paralleled increasing human migration. We also test the archaeological hypothesis that types of ritual tooth ablation can be used to distinguish between locals and immigrants during the Late-Final Jomon period. We measured strontium isotope ratios in human skeletal remains from the Middle Jomon Ota and the Late-Final Jomon Tsukumo sites located in the Sanyo region of western Japan. Tooth enamel and bone were analyzed, and modern plant samples were collected in the areas surrounding the two sites to make a map of environmental strontium isotope ratios. The biosphere strontium isotope ratios correlated well with the underlying geology, enabling us to put forth a hypothesis of immigrants’ origins. There were no migration pattern differences between the Middle and Late-Final Jomon groups, indicating that the gradual population increase was caused by an increase in the indigenous population. All the Tsukumo individuals are locals, and this finding indicates that types of tooth ablation did not distinguish between locals and immigrants. Alternative hypotheses for the presence of different tooth ablation types in the Jomon society should be explored.     

A strontium isotope analysis on the relationship between ritual tooth ablation and migration among the Jomon people in Japan

Distinct patterns can be discerned in the extensive ritual tooth ablation found among the human skeletal remains of the Late–Final Jomon period (ca. 3200–2800 cal BP) in Japan. Based on comparative observations of sex and grave patterns in the skeletal remains, two major patterns in ritual tooth ablation, termed type 4I and type 2C, have been assigned to locals and immigrants, respectively. In order to test this hypothesis, strontium (Sr) isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) analyses were performed on human skeletal remains from the Yoshigo shell mound in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. Plants in the surrounding area were also examined to illustrate the geographic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr distribution. The Sr isotopic variation in human tooth enamel (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70868–0.71028) was greater than that in human bones (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0.70871–0.70943). Individuals with higher Sr isotope ratios in their tooth enamel than seawater Sr values of 0.7092 can be identified as immigrants (36% of population). The presence of these isotopically identified immigrants between both type 2C and type 4I individuals does not support the previous hypothesis. The intra-population ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr distribution of tooth enamel of type 2C individuals showed a significantly higher mean ratio than that of type 4I individuals, suggesting a higher proportion of immigrants among the former.