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SUMMARY:Nuclear Power and the Mob: Extortion and Social Capital in Japan -
  J. Mark Ramseyer (Harvard University)
DTSTART:20160304T173000Z
DTEND:20160304T184500Z
UID:TALK64883@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Julius Weitzdörfer
DESCRIPTION:This talk treats the surprising role of organized crime groups
  (yakuza) in the development of nuclear power stations in Japan:\n\nNuclea
 r reactors entail massive non-transferrable site-specific investments. The
  resulting appropriable quasi-rents offer the mob the ideal target. In exc
 hange for large fees\, it can either promise to "protect" the utility (and
  silence the reactor's local opponents) or "extort" from it (and desist fr
 om inciting local opponents). Using municipality-level (1742 cities\, town
 s\, villages) and prefecture-level (47) Japanese panel data covering the y
 ears from 1980 to 2010\, I find exactly this phenomenon: when a utility an
 nounces plans to build a reactor\, the level of extortion climbs. Reactors
  have broad-ranging effects on social capital as well. In general\, the pe
 rceived health costs to nuclear power are highest for young families. As a
  result\, if a utility announces plans for a new reactor\, these families 
 disappear. Yet these are the men and women who invest most heavily in the 
 social capital that keeps communities intact. When they disappear\, relian
 ce on government subsidies increases\, and divorce rates rise. Firms stay 
 away\, and unemployment climbs.\n\nPRIOR REGISTRATION IS OBLIGATORY:\nhttp
 s://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fukushima-five-years-on-legal-fallout-in-japan-
 lessons-for-the-eu-tickets-21605657102\n\nJ. Mark Ramseyer is the Mitsubis
 hi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School. This public 
 lecture is followed by the expert workshop 'Fukushima Five Years on: Legal
  Fallout in Japan\, Lessons for the EU' on 5 March\, convened by Julius We
 itzdörfer (JRF\, Faculty of Law\, Cambridge)\; Prof Moritz Bälz (Japanes
 e Law and Culture\, Interdisciplinary Center of East Asian Studies\, Frank
 furt) and Dr Ludo Veuchelen (Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics\; fo
 rmer President\, Safety and Regulation\, International Nuclear Law Associa
 tion).\n\nBoth events are jointly hosted by:\n- The Centre for the Study o
 f Existential Risk (CSER)\, Cambridge\n- The Faculty of Law\, University o
 f Cambridge\n- Darwin College\, Cambridge\n- The Interdisciplinary Centre 
 for East Asian Studies\, Frankfurt\n
LOCATION:The Old Library\, Darwin College Cambridge\, Silver St\, Cambridg
 e CB3 9EU
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