Explorations in Economic Research, Volume 3, number 2
To mark the opening of the West Coast office of the National Bureau of Economic Research, a conference on "International Trade, Finance, arid Development of Pacific Basin Countries" was held on December 6-7, 1974. Several papers appeared particularly useful to the nonspecialist in international trade desiring an overview of the current state of knowledge. In "The Characteristics, Motivations, and Effects of Japanese arid United States: Direct Investments in the Pacific Basin," Steven Kohlhagen critically reviews existing studies on the motivations of investors and the characteristics of private investments in the region. Bert G. Hickman and Lawrence J. Lau survey national econometric models in the Pacific Basin and evaluate the feasibility of linking them. Kozo Yamamura presents "A Retrospect and Prospect on the Postwar Japanese Economy." Observers of the Japanese economy have been impressed by the fact that growth in real output averaged over 10 percent a year for two decades. Yamamura examines the sources of this growth. Each paper is followed by a brief summary of some of the discussion it called forth at the conference.