Published Papers

This paper examines Japan’s distinctive inflation and deflation patterns, highlighting prolonged deflation following the 1990s asset bubble collapse and exploring the systemic issues underlying this trend. Japan’s deflationary cycle, reinforced by demographic shifts, conservative spending habits, and policy limitations, has presented unique challenges that distinguish its economy from other developed nations. By analyzing historical events, monetary policies, and fiscal interventions, this study identifies key factors contributing to Japan's economic stagnation. The paper concludes by suggesting alternative strategies and offering insights that may assist policymakers worldwide in addressing deflationary pressures within an interconnected global economy.

The automobile is the primary mode of transport for most families, but automobile accidents remain the leading cause of death for children and young adults. The most common cause of automobile accidents is incorrect driver action and research aims to minimize the factors that contribute to this, specifically driver aggression and inattention. Music has been shown to have an impact on driving and may be a useful tool to help mitigate these behaviors that can increase the risk of automobile accidents. The aim of this study is to systematically review and summarize the current published literature on the impact of listening to music whilst driving on the driver’s behavior, mood and attention.

This work explores the application of machine learning to detect exoplanets from NASA’s Kepler mission. Our dataset comprises Kepler Objects of Interest (KOIs), encompassing their characteristic features and confirmed exoplanet status. We experiment with multiple supervised classification techniques including classical, tree-based, and neural methods. The best-performing model Histogram Gradient Boosting achieves a strong performance of 94.6% precision and 94.1% recall on a held-out dataset demonstrating the strong potential of integrating machine learning techniques into astronomy, potentially leading to new insights into planetary systems outside the solar system.

This paper investigates the impact of the Christmas period on the prices of five cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin and Dogecoin from 2017 to 2021 By employing statistical and data science analysis, the study aims to enhance the understanding of seasonality anomalies in the cryptocurrency market The results reveal significant price fluctuations during the Christmas period, highlighting the potential for seasonal effects in digital currencies.

In this paper, I analyze the relationship between infrastructure investment, environmental degradation and. I first present their theoretical link through the lens of the theory of externalities; in particular, investment in infrastructure is associated with a positive externality since infrastructure is a public good, but both the usage and the construction of infrastructure pose negative environmental externalities. I synthesize the relatively disparate literature on this topic, before jointly estimating these externalities using cross-country data. I find that a 1% increase in infrastructure investments is associated with a 1.04% increase in average GDP, and a 0.77% increase in greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. I find that a 1% higher tax rate on energy dampens the association of such investments on GHGs.

The relationship between income inequality and economic growth has been the subject of extensive theoretical debate, with varying predictions on whether inequality fosters or hinders growth. This study investigates the relationship between income inequality and economic growth using a fixed-effects model, estimated on cross-country data spanning from 1963 to 2015. The findings suggest a robust negative correlation between income inequality and economic growth, with stronger effects observed in more developed countries