start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol=51 cd-vols= no-issue=2-3 article-no= start-page=123 end-page=129 dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2020 dt-pub=20200319 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title= kn-title=Silver Democracy and Electoral System : Political Feasibility of Policy Reform Plans in an Aging Japan en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract= en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=OkamotoAkira en-aut-sei=Okamoto en-aut-mei=Akira kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil=Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Okayama University kn-affil= END start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol=32 cd-vols= no-issue=2 article-no= start-page=59 end-page=98 dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2000 dt-pub=20000910 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title=Income Distribution and Tax Reforms in Aging Japan kn-title=所得分布と高齢化社会における税制改革 en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract=This paper examines the effects of changes in the variance of income distribution on both capital accumulation and social welfare in Japan, the society with an aging population. To analyze the problem, we adopt a simulation approach for an extended life-cycle general equilibrium model of overlapping generations with continuous income distribution. The simulation results indicate that the changes in the variance affect economic variables under a progressive tax scheme but they do not under a proportional tax scheme. The results also show that social welfare greatly increases as the variance shrinks. Therefore, the recent shift in Japan, where the taxation system has tended in effect to become flat, may cause a significant damage to social welfare. en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=OkamotoAkira en-aut-sei=Okamoto en-aut-mei=Akira kn-aut-name=岡本章 kn-aut-sei=岡本 kn-aut-mei=章 aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil= kn-affil=岡山大学 END start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol=32 cd-vols= no-issue=1 article-no= start-page=1 end-page=48 dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2000 dt-pub=20000610 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title=Heterogeneous Labor Endowments and Tax Reforms in Aging Japan: Progressive Taxes and Intragenerational Redistribution kn-title=労働異質性と高齢化社会における税制改革―累進税制の選択と資産格差への影響― en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract=This paper examines the effects of a progressive labor income tax scheme and a progressive consumption tax scheme on capital stock and on intragenerational wealth distribution in Japan, the society with an aging population. To analyze the problem, we adopt a simulation approach for an extended life-cycle general equilibrium model of overlapping generations. As a progressive tax is likely to mitigate the inequality of resource distribution, it is crucial to allow for the existence of heterogeneous labor. This is incorporated by assuming that each cohort has three representative individuals with equal tastes but unequal annual labor endowments, corresponding to three income classes, namely, low, middle, and high income classes. As the simulation results indicate, a progressive labor income tax shrinks the inequality in the distribution of wealth, while a progressive consumption tax furthers slightly. en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=OkamotoAkira en-aut-sei=Okamoto en-aut-mei=Akira kn-aut-name=岡本章 kn-aut-sei=岡本 kn-aut-mei=章 aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil= kn-affil=岡山大学 END start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol=36 cd-vols= no-issue=4 article-no= start-page=193 end-page=201 dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2005 dt-pub=20050310 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title= kn-title=Introduction of Progressive Expenditure Taxation to Japan en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract=With a population that is aging faster than any other in the world, Japan faces serious public finance problems, particularly when it comes to tax and social security issues. The structural reforms are urgently needed to accommodate the impending demographic change. We look at the Japanese tax and social security systems through a life−cycle general equilibrium simulation model. We aim to establish guidelines for fiscal reform in Japan’s graying society and use such advanced modeling techniques to permit the calculation of the effects of alternative tax policies on capital accumulation and economic welfare. We also examine the impact of progressive expenditure taxation, coming to the novel conclusion that this form of taxation may hold the key to overcoming the large welfare loss Japan faces as its society ages under the current tax system. Furthermore, we present the concrete measures of implementing progressive expenditure taxation. en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=OkamotoAkira en-aut-sei=Okamoto en-aut-mei=Akira kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil= kn-affil=Faculty of Economics, Okayama University END start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol=57 cd-vols= no-issue=6 article-no= start-page=267 end-page=277 dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2003 dt-pub=200312 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title= kn-title=Pathophysiological functions of CD30+ CD4+ T cells in rheumatoid arthritis. en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract=

High levels of soluble CD30 (sCD30) were detected in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), indicating the involvement of CD30+ T cells in the pathogenesis. We investigated the induction of CD30 and its functions in CD4+T cells from patients with established RA (disease duration >_2 years). CD4+ T cells from both the peripheral blood (PB) and synovial tissue (ST) of RA patients expressed surface CD30 when stimulated with anti-CD3 antibody (Ab) and anti-CD28 Ab, but their CD30 induction was slower and weaker compared with PB CD4+ T cells of healthy controls (HC). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that only a small proportion of lymphocytes expressed CD30 in the ST (-1%). RA PB CD4+ T cells, after recovery from 6-day stimulation with anti-CD3 Ab and anti-CD28 Ab, showed in intracellular cytokine staining that CD30+ T cells could produce more interleukin-4 (IL-4) but less interferon-gamma. In the culture of RA PB CD4+ T Cells with anti-CD3 Ab and anti-CD28 Ab, blocking anti-CD30 Ab similarly inhibited the cell proliferation and activation of nuclear factor-kappaB on day 4 in RA and HC, but inhibited the apoptotic cell death on day 6 only in RA. These results indicate that despite high-level expression of sCD30, the anti-inflammatory activity of IL-4-producing CD30+ CD4+ T cells may be limited in the ST due to a poor induction of surface CD30 and a susceptibility to CD30-mediated cell death.

en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=OkamotoAkira en-aut-sei=Okamoto en-aut-mei=Akira kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= en-aut-name=YamamuraMasahiro en-aut-sei=Yamamura en-aut-mei=Masahiro kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=2 ORCID= en-aut-name=IwahashiMitsuhiro en-aut-sei=Iwahashi en-aut-mei=Mitsuhiro kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=3 ORCID= en-aut-name=AitaTetsushi en-aut-sei=Aita en-aut-mei=Tetsushi kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=4 ORCID= en-aut-name=UenoAkiko en-aut-sei=Ueno en-aut-mei=Akiko kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=5 ORCID= en-aut-name=KawashimaMasanori en-aut-sei=Kawashima en-aut-mei=Masanori kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=6 ORCID= en-aut-name=YamanaJiro en-aut-sei=Yamana en-aut-mei=Jiro kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=7 ORCID= en-aut-name=KagawaHidetoshi en-aut-sei=Kagawa en-aut-mei=Hidetoshi kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=8 ORCID= en-aut-name=MakinoHirofumi en-aut-sei=Makino en-aut-mei=Hirofumi kn-aut-name= kn-aut-sei= kn-aut-mei= aut-affil-num=9 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=2 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=3 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=4 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=5 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=6 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=7 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=8 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University affil-num=9 en-affil= kn-affil=Okayama University en-keyword=apoptosis kn-keyword=apoptosis en-keyword=CD4 Tcells kn-keyword=CD4 Tcells en-keyword=CD30 kn-keyword=CD30 en-keyword=interleukin-4(IL=4) kn-keyword=interleukin-4(IL=4) en-keyword=rheumatoid arthritis(RA) kn-keyword=rheumatoid arthritis(RA) END start-ver=1.4 cd-journal=joma no-vol= cd-vols= no-issue= article-no= start-page= end-page= dt-received= dt-revised= dt-accepted= dt-pub-year=2003 dt-pub=20030930 dt-online= en-article= kn-article= en-subject= kn-subject= en-title=関節リウマチにおけるCD30+CD4+T細胞の機能的解析 kn-title=Pathophysiological functions ofCD30+CD4+ T cells in rheumatoid arthritis en-subtitle= kn-subtitle= en-abstract= kn-abstract= en-copyright= kn-copyright= en-aut-name=OkamotoAkira en-aut-sei=Okamoto en-aut-mei=Akira kn-aut-name=岡本享 kn-aut-sei=岡本 kn-aut-mei=享 aut-affil-num=1 ORCID= affil-num=1 en-affil= kn-affil=岡山大学 END