The Income Security System in Japanese Traditional Performing Arts： A Strategy for Utilizing the Nation＇s Traditional Arts Resources

The objective of this paper is to examine an effective strategy for maintaining and utilizing the traditional arts resources of Japan. The authors explore two pillars of the strategy. One is to improve the quality of Japanese traditional performing arts by securing incomes for artists. The other is to utilize the traditional arts as a medium to expand Japanese cultural influence in foreign countries and to improve Japan＇s branding as a nation. First, the authors focus on the income security system practiced in traditional Japanese music and describe the discrepancy between short- and long-run optimality. The authors prove that the reputation of this art form affects its popularity and that it is optimal for the Iemoto （the head of the music school） to restrict the number of pupils in onstage performances in order to maintain stage quality. Second, the authors provide evidence that effective methods for a country to expand its cultural influence across the world differ among nations. The authors conduct willingness-to-pay （WTP） experiments and find that while German audiences largely prefer traditional Japanese music, those in the USA are slightly partial to its mixed fusion form. Therefore, the effective ways to expand Japanese cultural influence in foreign countries differ from one country to another.

Upping the Ante of National Industrial Brands

Strengthening China’s independent innovative abilities can only be done by supporting national brands that own independent intellectual property rights. That's the view of Lin Jiujiang, Vice General Manager of the Marketing Department of China Export & Credit Insurance Corp., who speaks to Beijing Review about his organization’s experience in this field.

Private Label Positioning and Product Line

This article examines （i） how retailers position private label products, （ii） why private labels are sold in some product categories but not in others, and why some national brand products may have difficulty in accessing retailers＇ shelves, （iii） why some private label products are positioned as ＂premium＂ brands, and （iv） how consumers＇ surplus and total welfare are affected by private labels. We find that private label positioning leads to less differentiation in product category, which structurally changes a retailer＇s product line in return. Consumer welfare and total welfare are lower

The emergence of the United Arab Emirates as a global soft power: Current strategies and future challenges

Using the Soft Power 30 Index,this research focusses on assessing the soft power status of the United Arab Emirates(UAE)by exam-ining the elements of its soft power and potential challenges it may face in the future.This study conducts in-depth interviews with foreign diplomats and academics based in the UAE and Emirati diplomats and academics.These data are supplemented with primary and secondary data from governmental and inter-national agencies as well as media sources.The UAE’s case dem-onstrates that soft power can be consciously developed by any country regardless of its regime type,size,location,and religious or racial background by getting its domestic affairs in order.A country’s domestic success in governance,enterprise,culture,education and digital infrastructure leads to global attraction,which ultimately enhances the image of a country such as the UAE.It eventually creates opportunities for more global partner-ships and engagements in the areas of multilateralism,philan-thropy,peacebuilding,conflict resolution and event hosting.However,these efforts face the following challenges:the threat of widely diffused actions among public and private actors,the financial cost of soft power engagement and projections,the UAE’s lack of a global media platform for shaping global agendas and its increasing use of hard power in response to geopolitical threats which can negatively affect its image.