違いを楽しむ：オリンピックと国際協力

オリンピックを見ていてふと我に返ることがあった。自分はなぜ日本人選手ばかり応援しているのだろうか、と。自分の中にはそれほど強い国粋主義が眠っているのだろうか。しかし、日本人を応援するのは私ばかりではないように思える。サッカーのワールドカップやオリンピックとなると日本の多くの人々が日本チームや日本人選手を応援する。それは日本人の関心や嗜好が内向きになっていることを示しているのだろうか。（以下略）

国際協力の罪と罰：買わない日本人

会社でも学校でも結果を問われる時代になった。会社では賃金のうち年功序列的部分が縮小され、業績給部分の割合が増えている。大学生の成績も、以前より明確な基準を用いて、学生の間に明白な差をつけて採点することが要求されるようになってきている。これまでは努力を含めて「何をどれだけ投入したか」が基準として重視されていたのに対して、最近は「何をどれだけ実現したか」という成果が重視されるようになってきている。（以下略）

Myanmar and Japan: How Close Friends Become Estranged

Independent Myanmar and Japan had long held the strongest ties among Asian countries, and they were often known as having "special relations" or a "historically friendly relationship." Such relations were guaranteed by the sentiments and experiences of the leaders of both countries. Among others, Ne Win, former strongman throughout the socialist period (1962-1988), was educated and trained by the Japanese army officers of the Minami Kikan, leading to the birth of the Burma Independence Army (BIA). Huge official development assistance provided by the Japanese government also cemented this special relationship. However, the birth of the present military government (SLORC/SPDC) in 1988 drastically changed this favorable relationship between the two countries. When the military seized power in a coup, Japan was believed to be the only country that possessed sufficient meaningful influence on Myanmar to encourage a move toward national reconciliation between the junta and the opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi. In reality, Japan failed to exert such an influence due to its sour relations with the military government and reduced influence in the new international and regional political landscape. What is worse, Japan seems to be losing its say on Myanmar issues in the international political arena, as it has been wavering in limbo between the sanctionist forces, such as the United States and the European Union, and engagement forces, such as China and ASEAN.

The impact of unstable aids on consumption volatility in developing countries

In recent years, a large and expanding literature has examined the properties of developing economies with regard to the macroeconomic cycle.1 One such property that is characteristic of developing economies is large fluctuations in consumption. Meanwhile, aid for the low income countries is extremely volatile, and under certain circumstances, the volatile aid amplifies the consumption volatility. This document examines whether it is possible that the volatile aid yields high consumption volatility in African countries that constitute the majority of the low income countries. Our numerical analysis reveals that the strongly influential aid disbursements yield a considerably large fluctuation in consumption.

The dynamics of spending and absorption of aid : panel data analysis

In September 1999, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) established the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) to make the reduction of poverty and the enhancement of economic growth the fundamental objectives of lending operations in its poorest member countries. This paper studies the spending and absorption of aid in PRGF-supported programs, verifies whether the use of aid is programmed to be smoothed over time, and analyzes how considerations about macroeconomic stability influence the programmed use of aid. The paper shows that PRGF-supported programs permit countries to utilize all increases in aid within a few years, showing smoothed use of aid inflows over time. Our results reveal that spending is higher than absorption in both the long-run and short-run use of aid, which is a robust finding of the study. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the long-run spending exceeds the injected increase of aid inflows in the economy. In addition, the paper finds that the presence of a PRGF-supported program does not influence the actual absorption or spending of aid.

Sustainable development goals and Japan -- sustainability overshadows poverty reduction

The Development Cooperation Charter of Japan, which took over the ODA (Official Development Assistance) Charter in February 2015, drives Japan's cooperation towards non-poor countries and non-poverty issues. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) put Japan forward in these directions. As a result, in Japan the focus on global poverty reduction is overshadowed by its national interests and sustainability under the concept of universality, which was a core principle of the SDGs as differentiated from the Millennium Development Goals.