Energy development, interpreted broadly to mean increased provision and use of energy services, is an integral part of enhanced economic development. Advanced industrialized societies use more energy per unit of economic output and far more energy per capita than poorer societies, especially those still in a preindustrial state. Energy use per unit of output does seem to decline over time in the more advanced stages of industrialization, reflecting the adoption of increasingly more efficient technologies for energy production and utilization as well as changes in the composition of economic activity (see, e.g., Nakicenovic 1996). And energy intensity in today's developing countries probably peaks sooner and at a lower level along the development path than was the case during the industrialization of the developed world. But even with trends toward greater energy efficiency and other dampening factors, total energy use and energy use per capita continue to grow in the advanced industrialized countries, and even more rapid growth can be expected in the developing countries as their incomes advance. The fact that expanded provision and use of energy services is strongly associated with economic development leaves open how important energy is as a causal factor in economic development. Development involves a number of other steps besides those associated with energy, notably including the evolution of education and labor markets, financial institutions to support capital investment, modernization of agriculture, and provision of infrastructure for water, sanitation, and communications. This is not just an academic question; energy development competes with other development opportunities in the allocation of scarce capital and in the allocation of scarce opportunities for policy and institutional reform.

Foreign banks have long faced difficulties in attempting to enter certain Japanese financial markets. This is due partly to regulatory practices and partly to specific Japanese socioeconomic conditions, for instance the system of relationship banking. While retail banking is still a sector in which almost no foreigners have been able to succeed, some foreign financial institutions have been able to gain market share in investment and wholesale banking.

Today, Japanese financial markets offer a bizarre playing ground for foreign competitors.On the one hand, overdue reforms, deteriorating stock markets, and shockingly bad ratings should scare many foreigners away from making commitments to Japan's markets. On the other hand, it is just these problems and the dissatisfaction with the Japanese banking sector, as well as an increasing division of the Japanese economy into large global players and small domestic companies, that might help a few strong foreign banks with superior global capabilities overcome their liability of foreignness. Indeed, we assume that improved market opportunities for foreign banks in Japan are related to a fundamental lack of global capabilities on the part of Japanese financial institutions, despite their pronounced advantages as local players. In contemplating the future of foreign financial institutions in Japan, we propose three scenarios. Japan is often compared with Great Britain, where the term "Wimbledon effect" was coined after deregulation of Britain's financial markets--the "Big Bang"--resulted in the acquisition of many British banks by foreign companies. (The analogy refers to the fact that although Britain provides the world's foremost arena for tennis at Wimbledon, the winners of the Wimbledon tournament tend to be foreign players.) The Wimbledon effect would predict that market deregulation will strengthen the financial center but lead to asituation in which markets are dominated by foreign banks. Focusing on investment banking, our paper examines whether Japan faces the same developments as did Great Britain, whether the Wimbledon effect is a plausible scenario for Japan, and whether the analogy between the two financial centers is suitable.

The two other scenarios are strong positions of foreign-Japanese joint ventures ("mixed double") and the continuing dominance of Japanese financial-service providers ("home run").While domination by foreign financial institutions has come to pass in Britain, its BigB ang has at the same time boosted London's position as a financial center. However, in this paper we will explain why Japan's case is different from the situation in the British financialmarkets. Not only is market domination by foreigners in Japan an effect that cannot be expected in the medium run, but Tokyo's domestic orientation distinguishes it from so-called global centers such as London and New York and makes it highly vulnerable in the current situation. Japan's long-lasting economic problems, Tokyo's historical lack of a greater region it has served as a financial center, and an increasing need for globally competitive financial services by large international Japanese corporations cast doubt on the future status of Tokyo as a leading financial center.

The term peri-urbanization refers to a process in which rural areas located on the outskirts of established cities become more urban in character, in physical, economic, and social terms, often in piecemeal fashion. Peri-urban development usually involves rapid social change as small agricultural communities are forced to adjust to an urban or industrial way of life in a very short time. High levels of migration are an important driver of social change. Rapidenvironmental deterioration; large-scale, often haphazard, land conversion; and infrastructure backlogs are major policy challenges associated with peri-urbanizing regions. Typically, peri-urbanization is stimulated by an infusion of new investment, generally from outside the local region in question, including foreign direct investment (FDI).

The overall goal of our paper is to explore this question of how China's policy will likely respond as the nation enters the WTO. Specifically, we will have three objectives. First, we briefly review China's existing agriculture policy and past performance of China's agriculture and how it has changed during the past 20 years of reform. Next, we examine the main features of the agreement that China must adhere to as they enter WTO. Finally, we consider a number of possible ways that policy makers may respond, primarily focusing on the national government's viewpoint.

The overall goal of this section is to understand how WTO will affect the agriculture sector in China. To accomplish this goal we have two specific objectives. First, we seek to provide measures of the distortions in China's agricultural sector at a time immediately prior to the nation's accession to WTO. Second, we seek to assess how well integrated China's markets are in order to understand which areas of the country and which segments of the farming population will likely be isolated from or affected by the changes that WTO will bring. Ultimately, with a knowledge of the size and magnitude of the impacts, researchers will be better able to being working on understanding how the policies that WTO will impose on China will change the gap between the domestic and international price and affect imports and exports, domestic production and production, income and poverty.

China and the World Trade Organization

On balance, will the nation's accession to WTO help or hurt rural residents? How will they affect rural incomes? Who in the rural economy will get hurt? Are there some in the rural economy who will be insulated from the effects of WTO?

The general goal of our essay will be to begin the discussion of these critical questions. In particular, we will attempt to meet this broad goal by pursuing three sets of objectives. First, we will examine the record of rural incomes, in general, and then focus on how employment may be affected by China's accession to WTO.

Second, we will attempt to understand how WTO will affect the agriculture sector, in particular. To do so, we will provide measures of the distortions in China's agricultural sector at a time immediately prior to the nation's accession to WTO and seek to assess how well integrated China's markets are in order to understand which areas of the country and which segments of the farming population will likely be isolated from or affected by the changes that WTO will bring. Ultimately, with a knowledge of the size and magnitude of the impacts, researchers will be better able to begin working on understanding how the policies that WTO will impose on China will change the gap between the domestic and international price and affect imports and exports, domestic production and production, prices, income and poverty.

Third, we will examine the policy options that the government has available to them in the wake of WTO.