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Professor Specialization:
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In my research, I have been exploring the historical origins of institutional diversity comparing various economic institutions in the U.S. and Japan. My approach is to study institutions as the endogenous outcomes of historical processes that entail strategic interactions of major players.
Comparative Historical Analysis of the Employment Systems in the U.S. and Japan
In this project, I model the employment systems in the U.S. and Japan today as two distinct equilibria and investigate the historical processes of "equilibrium selection" over the course of the 20th century. In particular, I identify the Great Depression as a point of bifurcation and study its impacts on human resource management (HRM) policies of major employers and subsequent industrial relations in the respective countries.
Income Inequality in Japan from Comparative Historical Perspectives
The primary purpose of this project is to document the evolution of income inequality in Japan over the past 120 years using income tax statistics, explore its historical causes, and evaluate Japan's experience from comparative perspectives using similar data from the U.S. and European countries. It also studies changes in top wage income shares in Japan over the last 60 years and empirically investigates the determinants of wage inequality.
My new research focuses on the economics of child adoption. Adoption, as an alternative to child bearing, is a widely accepted means of forming a family in western countries, especially in the U.S. Although recent developments in family economics have advanced our understanding of fertility decisions, there is little economic literature that concerns child adoption. The main objective of this research is to offer empirical and theoretical analysis of child adoption, using historical and contemporary microdata from the U.S. In addition, I also compare adoption laws and markets in the U.S. and Japan, compare their historical developments, and study their implications to the welfare of children and adoptive families.
◎Keywords
Japanese economic history, U.S. economic history, comparative institutional analysis, employment contracts, child adoption
