JPOSS

Michael Sharpe (York College/CUNY), "Selecting Legal Residents by Unemployment and Ethnicity in the Liberal Democratic State to 'Control Unwanted Immigration': Remigration in The Netherlands and Japan 1985-2011"
2021-04-15 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
U.S. EDT: April 15 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: April 16 (Fri), 9 – 10 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Paper can be found here.
Presenters: Michael Sharpe (York College/CUNY).
Discussants: Annika Hinze (Fordham University), Michael Strausz (Texas Christian University).
Chair: Amy Catalinac (New York University).

Taishi Muraoka (Washington University in St. Louis), “How Do Voters Perceive Female Politicians' Abilities to Distribute Pork?” (Pre-analysis Plan)
2021-04-01 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: April 1 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: April 2 (Fri), 9 – 10 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Pre-analysis plan can be found here.
Presenters: Taishi Muraoka (Washington University in St. Louis).
Discussants: Nichole M. Bauer (Louisiana State University), Alexander Coppock (Yale University).
Chair: Daniel M. Smith (Harvard University).

Kenneth Mori McElwain (University of Tokyo), Yuki Shiraito (University of Michigan), Guoer Liu (University of Michigan), "The Clash of Traditional Values: Attitudes toward a Male-line Monarchy under a Succession Crisis"
2021-03-04 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EST: March 4 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: March 5 (Fri), 10 – 11 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Paper can be found here.
Presenters: Kenneth Mori McElwain (University of Tokyo), Yuki Shiraito (University of Michigan).
Discussants: Margarita Estévez-Abe (Syracuse University), Cecilia Hyunjung Mo (University of California, Berkeley).
Chair: Charles Crabtree (Dartmouth College).

Panel: “Professional Development #2: Working on Japan, Working in Japan”
2021-02-11 20:00 - 21:15
Professional Development #2: Working on Japan, Working in Japan
U.S. ET: February 11 (Thu), 8:00 – 9:15 pm
JST: February 12 (Fri), 10:00 – 11:15 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Presenters: Sheila Smith (Council on Foreign Relations), Saori Katada (University of Southern California), Ellis Krauss (University of California, San Diego), Gill Steel (Doshisha University).
Chair: Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth).

Jordan Hamzawi (UC Davis), “Policy or Valence? Candidate or Party? Assessing Voter Preferences in Japan”
2020-12-17 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: December 17 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: December 18 (Fri), 10 – 11 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Paper can be found here.
Presenter: Jordan Hamzawi (University of California, Davis).
Discussants: Kentaro Fukumoto (Gakushuin University), Zeynep Somer Topcu (University of Texas at Austin).
Chair: Daniel M. Smith (Harvard).

Takako Hikotani (Columbia), Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth), Atsushi Tago (Waseda), “U.S. Military Should Not Be in My Backyard: A Case of Okinawa”
2020-12-03 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: December 3 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: December 4 (Fri), 10 – 11 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Paper can be found here.
Abstract: In an article recently published in the American Political Science Review, Allen et al. (2020) argue that citizens in U.S. allies are more likely to nurture favorable attitudes toward the U.S. government, American people, and American troops because they have inter-personal contact with Americans and receive economic benefits associated with the U.S. military presence. However, their analysis of surveys fielded in fourteen U.S. allies disregards the geographical concentration of U.S. military facilities within the host countries. To examine this relevance of geography, we focus on Okinawa, a small Japanese prefecture constituting only 0.6% of Japan’s surface land but hosting 70% of U.S. military facilities within Japan. Based on a national sample and a targeted sample from Okinawa, we replicate their survey. We also administer an original conjoint experiment on Japanese citizens’ attitudes toward the Osprey deployment in Japan. The results show strong Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) sentiment among Japanese people, particularly among Okinawans, toward the military presence, regardless of their contact with Americans and economic benefits. Our study sheds light on the importance of local foreign public opinion for foreign policy analysis and contributes to the debate on the U.S. military presence in the world.
Presenters: Takako Hikotani (Columbia), Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth), Atsushi Tago (Waseda).
Discussants: Yoshiaki Kubo (Harvard Program on U.S.-Japan Relations; University of the Ryukyus), Michael Tomz (Stanford).
Chair: Christina Davis (Harvard).

Ayumi Teraoka (Princeton), “Third Party Coercion and Gray Zone Conflicts: Assessing U.S. Foreign Policy over the East China Sea, 2008-2014”
2020-11-12 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: November 12 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: November 13 (Fri), 10 – 11 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Paper can be found here.
Abstract: The United States engaged in dual deterrence over the East China Sea dispute from 2008-2014, dissuading both China and Japan from taking escalatory behavior. Contrary to what dual deterrence theory predicts, however, this U.S. approach failed to deescalate the situation. By process-tracing and examining the consequences of U.S. intervention or lack thereof, this article finds that dual deterrence in the gray zone conflict requires the third-party to act decisively and issue early threats and assurances against revisionist actions. It aims to contribute to scholarly debates on both dual deterrence and gray zone conflicts and offer policy implications.
Presenter: Ayumi Teraoka (Princeton).
Discussants: Tim Crawford (Boston College), Mike Mochizuki (George Washington University).
Chair: Phillip Y. Lipscy (University of Toronto).

Deirdre Martin (UC Berkeley), "Quiet Acquisition: The Politics of Justification in Military Capability Trajectories"
2020-10-29 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: October 29 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: October 30 (Fri), 9 – 10 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Presenter: Deirdre Martin (UC Berkeley).
Chair: Charles Crabtree (Dartmouth College).

Diana Stanescu (Harvard), "Agents or Advisers? Bureaucratic Structure and the Politics of Trade Protectionism" (Practice Job Talk)
2020-10-15 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: October 15 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: October 16 (Fri), 9 – 10 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.
Presenter: Diana Stanescu (Harvard).
Chair: Christina Davis (Harvard).

Fan Lu (Queen's University) & Gento Kato (Nazarbayev University), "Can University Education Cultivate Immigrant Integration? The Case of Local Enfranchisement for Foreign Residents in Japan"
2020-10-01 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: October 1 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: October 2 (Fri), 9 – 10 am
NOTE: Registration required! Link.

Paper can be found here.
Presenters: Fan Lu (Queen’s University), Gento Kato (Nazarbayev University).
Abstract: While there is lively debate on whether higher education cultivates support for admitting foreigners into North America and Europe, there is little discussion on the extent to which this relationship generalizes beyond these continents. Furthermore, willingness to admit foreigners is not the same as willingness to integrate them. In light of Japan’s growing reliance on foreign workers to solve its labor shortage problem and the public’s divided opinion on integrating foreigners, we examine the relationship between university education and Japanese attitudes toward immigration. To do so, we use matching techniques that incorporate individual attributes as well as residential zip codes to analyze public opinion surveys fielded between 2009 and 2014. Our findings suggest Japanese university education has limited effect on support for enfranchising permanent resident foreigners, and if there is any, the effect is more visible among females than males. Furthermore, the effect is mediated through improved attitudes toward Koreans, the dominant group of permanent resident foreigners rather than attitudes toward Chinese immigrants or more liberal political ideologies.
Discussants: Rieko Kage (University of Tokyo), Rocio Titiunik (Princeton).
Chair: Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth).

Panel: “How to Frame Japan-Related Research for Publications and the Job Market”
2020-09-17 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: 8 – 9 pm, September 17 (Thursday)
JST: 9 – 10 am, September 18 (Friday)
NOTE: Registration required! Link.

Panelists: Amy Catalinac (NYU), Charles Crabtree (Dartmouth), Christina Davis (Harvard), Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth), Phillip Y. Lipscy (University of Toronto), Frances McCall Rosenbluth (Yale), Daniel M. Smith (Harvard).
We would like to collect questions in advance, relating to research, publications, the job market, and other topics. Please submit your question in the “Leave a Reply” box below.

Trevor Incerti (Yale) & Hikaru Yamagishi (Yale), "Do Firms Benefit from the Revolving Door? Evidence from Japan"
2020-08-13 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: 8 – 9 pm, August 13 (Thursday)
JST: 9 – 10 am, August 14 (Friday)
NOTE: Registration required! LINK

[Paper, Codebook and User Guide]
Presenters: Trevor Incerti (Yale University), Hikaru Yamagishi (Yale University).
Abstract: A growing literature finds high returns to firms connected to legislative office. Less attention has been paid to benefits from bureaucratic connections. Yet recent evidence shows that the groups actively contacting the legislature extensively contact bureaucrats as well. Private sector hiring of former civil servants—a process known as the revolving door—facilitates this practice. Leveraging a 2009 law requiring Japanese bureaucratic agencies to report all private sector hires of former civil servants, we construct the first comprehensive dataset of revolving door hires. Using this dataset, as well as data on Japanese government contracts, we test for systematic benefits that accrue to firms who hire former bureaucrats. Specifically, we hypothesize that bureaucratic rehiring will be associated with an increased likelihood of receipt of government contracts and investment. Finally, we test for stock market boosts from hiring of high-ranking former officials using an event study approach.
Discussants: Hye Young You (NYU), Yuhua Wang (Harvard), Ulrike Schaede (UCSD).
Chair: Daniel Smith (Harvard).

Nicholas Fraser (University of Toronto) & John W. Cheng (Tsuda University), “The New Consensus on Immigration?: Identifying the Racial Undertones of Immigrant Selection Outside the Western Context”
2020-07-09 20:00 - 21:00
U.S. EDT: July 9 (Thu), 8 – 9 pm
JST: July 10 (Fri), 9 – 10 am
NOTE: Registration required! LINK

[Paper]
Presenter: Nicholas Fraser (University of Toronto).
Abstract: To what extent do natives oppose admitting ethnically or culturally different immigrants? Several experimental studies show that natives in developed countries prefer high-skilled immigrants. This skills premium argument has been supported by studies that focus on the US as well as those that explore European and Asian countries. However, this emerging consensus has been challenged by recent studies which demonstrate that natives in several western countries prefer to admit immigrants from developed white majority sending countries. This raises the question: is the implicit ethnocultural bias within the preference for high-skilled migrants a uniquely western phenomenon? We explore this question by test-ing a modified version of Hainmueller and Hopkins’ 2015 experiment using a sample from an ethnically homogenous country where immigration is far less politicized than it is in the US and west European countries, Japan. Our study shows that Japanese conditionally apply skill requirements and suggests that the implicit ethnocultural bias that underlies the preference for high-skilled migrants is a broader trend and not unique to western countries.
Discussants: Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth), Rieko Kage (University of Tokyo), Charles Crabtree (Dartmouth), Hilary Holbrow (Harvard).
Chair: Amy Catalinac (NYU).
