Program in Economic and Public Policy (PEPP) | General as well as scholarship admission tracks available | University of Tsukuba

Naito, Hisahiro　(Personal Website)　[Director]

Ph.D. in Economics, the University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Professor Naito specializes in public policy and public economics. Before he joined the University of Tsukuba in 2004, he taught and carried out research at Syracuse University (New York, USA), the University of California Irvine (California, USA) and the Institute of Social Economics Research (Osaka, Japan).

Minowa, Mari 　[Outgoing Director]

Ph.D. in Economics, Cornell University

Professor Minowa specializes in the fields of development economics, social sector policies in developing countries, and economics of Latin America. She was an economist at the World Bank (1993-2000) and a visiting expert at the UN-ESCAP (2000-2002) before coming to Tsukuba.

Fukai, Taiyo　(Personal Website)

Professor Fukai specializes in labor economics and applied microeconometrics. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo. After serving as a project researcher at the University of Tokyo and as a research officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, he assumed his current position in 2022.

Kashiwagi, Kenichi

Ph.D. in International Political Economy, University of Tsukuba

Professor Kashiwagi specializes in Development Economics, Applied Economics, and the economic development of Middle East and North African countries. His current research interest includes issues of poverty and unemployment, migration and agricultural development in North Africa. Before joining the University of Tsukuba, he was a researcher and economic adviser for the Embassy of Japan in Egypt.

Kurokawa, Yoshinori　(Personal Website)

Ph.D. in Economics, University of Minnesota

Professor Kurokawa is an economist who specializes in International Trade, Industrial Organization, Economic Growth and Development, and Macroeconomics. Before joining the University of Tsukuba, he taught at the University of Minnesota (2004-2007) and the State University of New York at Buffalo (2007-2009).

Matsushima, Midori

Professor Matsushima’s research interests are health economics and health issues in developing and developed countries. Her research topics include: the effect of health insurance coverage in Vietnam; a study on the adverse health impact of civil conflict in Cambodia upon pregnant women and related inter-generational consequences; the COVID-19 pandemic and mental well-being of pregnant women in Japan; and the effect of unemployment on infant health. She earned a Ph.D from Osaka University and worked for Osaka University of Commerce, before joining the University of Tsukuba in 2019. Currently teaches program evaluation on the Graduate program.

Moges, Abu Girma

Ph.D. in International Political Economy, University of Tsukuba

Professor Moges teaches courses in microeconomics, international finance, and development economics. His research interests are wide and varied and include issues dealing with the interactions between economic theory and economic policy, poverty and inequality analysis, fiscal policy and decentralization, global population aging and policy, and African political economy.

Mohammad Abdul Malek

Ph.D. in Rural Economics, Tottori University

By training Professor Malek is a development and agriculture economist, interested mostly in field experiments/program evaluation. Before moving to Tsukuba, he worked in different capacities at Kyoto University, the University of Tokyo, BRAC (World largest NGO) and the University of Bonn (Germany). He has received funding for research projects from various quarters including JSPS, 3ie, IGC, Gates Foundation, and DFAT. He is affiliated with a number of professional societies and since 2017 has served as an Executive Committee Member for the Asian Society for Agricultural Economists.

Nakano, Yuko　(Personal Website) [Deputy Director]

Ph.D. in Development Economics, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies

Professor Nakano specializes in development economics and agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining the University of Tsukuba in 2012, she worked for the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and Tanzania.

Ramdani, Fatwa　(Personal Website)

Ph.D in Earth Science, Tohoku University

Professor Ramdani specializes in geographical information analysis, remote sensing and applied data science. His research applies spatial analysis and remotely sensed imageries as a proxy to observe various environmental and socio-economic variables. Before joining the University of Tsukuba, he taught at Brawijaya University, Indonesia, where he also acted as director in the Geoinformatics Research Group.

Yu, Zhengfei　(Personal Website)

Ph.D. in Economics, University of British Columbia

Professor Yu specializes in Econometrics. His research fields include nonparameteric and semiparameteric methods, program evaluation, and weak identification. He joined the University of Tsukuba in 2015.