PEPP Special Seminars Schedule AY2025
2022/05/13
2025 Academic Year
Spring ABC:
2025/4/24 (Thur.)
Speaker:
Chair: Prof. Kashiwagi
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format:
Abstract:
2025/5/8 (Thur.)
Speaker:
Chair: Prof. Kurokawa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format:
Abstract:
2025/6/12 (Thur.)
Speaker:
Chair: Prof. Moges
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format:
Abstract:
2025/6/26 (Thur.)
Speaker:
Chair: Prof. Naito
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format:
Abstract:
2025/7/3 (Thur.)
Speaker:
Chair: Prof. Matsushima
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format:
Abstract:
2024 Academic Year
Fall ABC:
2025/3/17 (Mon.)
Speaker: Dr. Grant Jacobsen (Professor, Economics Program; School of Public Policy; Oregon State University)
Chair: Prof. Vuong
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: Shock Avoidance: Experimental Evidence on High Bill Alerts and Energy Consumption
Format: Onsite 3A312
Abstract:
Utilities have invested billions of dollars in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) but
proceeded slowly to deploy AMI-enabled programs that benefit consumers. High bill
alert (HBA) programs, which inform consumers of unusually high usage patterns, offer
an avenue for tapping AMI-enabled benefits. We evaluate an HBA program and find that
the program reduced mean electricity and natural gas consumption by about 0.5%. The
effects were largest at the top of the usage distribution, especially when normalized by
pre-program usage, indicating that households experienced fewer expenditure shocks.
Welfare estimates depend critically on assumptions related to the forgone value of the
conserved energy.
Joint paper: Grant D. Jacobsen and James I. Stewart*
*Jacobsen is at Oregon State University and Stewart is at the Cadmus Group.
2025/1/30 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Ian Coxhead (Senior Research Fellow, Interdisciplinary Studies Center, Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO), Japan)
Chair: Prof. Vuong
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: Education and exports in the Korean economic miracle
Format: Onsite (3A301)
Abstract:
Human Capital, Technology, and Sustained Growth in South Korea
After decades of moves toward free trade, industry policy is returning to favor in many countries. This trend has renewed interest in the Korean growth “miracle,” often cited as a case of successful industry policy in a developing economy. But was industry policy entirely responsible for the miracle? In the 1980s, following abandonment of the state-directed industrialization strategy, we identify a major education policy change leading to an abrupt increase in the stock of tertiary-educated workers. We show that subsequent firm-level increases in skill inputs helped promote industrial growth through technological complementarities and supply-chain spillovers. These changes likely forestalled diminishing returns to capital, sustaining a high investment rate and enhancing the competitiveness of Korea’s manufactured exports. While the historical circumstances of Korea’s “miracle” cannot be replicated, our findings lead us to question whether industrial development is best pursued through policy support for favored industries, or by building a more highly skilled and creative labor force.
2024/11/21 (Thur.)
Speakers: Shafiqullah Yousafzai/Isurun Gamage/Ammazia Hanif
Chair: PEPP Faculty
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: PhD student presentations
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room: TBA
2024/11/26 (Tue.)
Speaker: Prof. Jingchao Li (Assistant professor, School of Business, East China University of Science and Technology)
Chair: Prof. Yu
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Rural-urban migration and the effect of government spending in developing countries”
Format: Online (Zoom)
Zoom Link (pre-registration required):
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwucOmorT0iGtS3DlSHwP5I-L6tTUlVsmGZ
Abstract: We examine whether government spending could enhance its expansionary effect by encouraging rural-urban migration in developing countries. We answer this question using Chinese data because there are a huge rural population and large urban-rural gaps in productivity and wage due to migration costs in China. The empirical evidence shows that there is a delayed rural-urban migration of labor in response to an increase in government spending. We then derive a two-region dynamic general equilibrium model where government spending shocks influence output within and across regions. We find that the effects of government spending are substantially amplified by the rural-urban migration channel.
Spring ABC:
2024/5/9 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Takashi Kurosaki (Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo)
Chair: Prof. Kashiwagi
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Prevention of Child Stunting through Home-Based Growth Monitoring: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) 3B405
Abstract: In this study, we experimentally assess the effectiveness of home-based growth monitoring (HBGM) interventions in reducing child stunting by utilizing growth posters installed inside households. The intervention aims to increase the salience of nutritional information, shift parents’ preference for healthy norms, and enhance their understanding of the benefits associated with improved dietary and sanitary inputs to improve children’s health outcomes. We first report findings from an randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted in slum areas of Karachi, Pakistan, during 2019-20. Our treatment sample comprised approximately 1,200 mother-child pairs. We observed a significant increase of 0.42 standard deviation in the Height-for-Age-Z score at the conclusion of the program. We then report preliminary findings from an ongoing RCT conducted in rural Sindh, whose interventions started in June 2023. Considering the rural setting, we employ a cluster-RCT approach covering 199 villages. In each village, approximately 15 mother-child pairs were recruited for the RCT. Study villages were randomized into either control (no intervention), treatment 1 (Karachi-style interventions with monthly visits by community health workers), or treatment 2 (light-touch version with automated voice calls replacing health workers’ visits). The ongoing RCT evaluates the efficacy of heavy-handed versus light-touch HBGM interventions in rural Pakistan, thereby providing evidence for their scalability and cost-effectiveness to improve child health and well-being.
Full Text: Abu S. Shonchoy, Agha A. Akram, Mahrukh Khan, Hina Khalid, Sidra Mazhar, Akib Khan, and Takashi Kurosaki. “A Community Health Worker-Based Intervention on Anthropometric Outcomes of Children Aged 3 to 21 Months in Urban Pakistan, 2019-2021”, American Journal of Public Health, January 2023, 113(1): 105-114. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307111
2024/5/23 (Thur.)
Speakers: Isurun Gamage/Ammazia Hanif
Chair: PEPP Faculty
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room: TBC
2024/6/13 (Thur.)
Speaker: Shafiqullah Yousafzai
Chair: PEPP Faculty
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title:
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room: TBC
2023 Academic Year
Fall ABC:
2023/10/12 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Jun Goto (Assistant Professor of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies)
Chair: Prof. Nakano
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Career Incentives and Judicial Independence: Evidence from the Indian Lower Judiciary”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3B405
Abstract: Historically, the debate on judicial independence has been centered on whether the participation of external branches in the appointment process of judges hampers the impartial administration of justice. However, less attention has been given to how the internal judicial organization shapes the judge’s decision. This paper, focusing on the Indian lower judiciary, explores whether the prospects of promotion to higher courts result in currying favor with judicial leaders who possess discretionary power over personal matters within the judicial organization. For this purpose, I exploit natural experiments: female judicial leader’s appointments replacing male incumbents, causing the unpredictable shift of gender preferences in personnel evaluation of local judges. Then, I use the triple difference strategy exploiting the high-court level variation on whether it has at least one female judicial leader ever, the individual judge level variation on the eligibility as the high court judge, and the temporal variation pre- and post-female judicial leader’s appointment. Estimation results show that eligible judges pander to female leaders and hand down lenient sentences for female defendants. Evidence suggests that discretionary appointments of judges through the non-transparent “judges-selecting-judges” system can be detrimental to the independent administration of justice. Therefore, careful institutional design is necessary to balance judicial accountability and independence.
2023/10/26 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Koryu Sato (Assistant Professor of the Department of Social Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Kyoto University)
Chair: Prof. Matsushima
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Heterogeneous Treatment Effect of Retirement on Cognitive Function”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3B405
Abstract: Previous studies have suggested that the impact of retirement on cognitive function is heterogeneous. This study used instrumental variable causal forests and explored the heterogeneity using data from 19 countries. We found that retirees had better cognitive function than workers on average and that the conditional average treatment effects varied depending on individuals’ properties. Policymakers should provide options for early retirement in the pension system to allow individuals to decide when to retire. The balance between the social benefits of increasing the state pension age versus the social costs of increasing dementia patients owing to delayed retirement should be considered.
2023/11/16 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Erin Quynh Huynh
Chair: Prof. Fukai
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: The Legacy of Socialism and Female Labor Supply in Modernizing Vietnam
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3B405
Abstract: We study women’s labor market responses to rising incomes and the role of social norms in shaping this relationship, focusing on Vietnam. Exploiting quasi-random variation in provincial exports during 2002-2018, we find that positive shocks to the local economy lead to a significant decline in women’s labor market engagement, especially for married women with husbands in skilled occupations. The pattern is morepronounced in the South (once capitalist) than in the North (always socialist), and among Northerners forced-migrated to the South than Southern natives. This highlights the significance of gender role attitudes in determining how women respond to rising incomes.
Spring ABC:
2023/4/13 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Hirokazu Ishise (associate professor of Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University)
Chair: Prof. Kurokawa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Nominal Exchange Rate Variability, Industry-level Nominal Wage Rigidity, and the Pattern of Trade”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3B405
Abstract: Does the stabilization of the nominal exchange rate stimulate international trade? This paper theoretically and empirically revisits this old but unresolved question by considering the differential impacts across sectors, particularly focusing on the interactive role with industry-level nominal wage rigidity. A stylized model clarifies mechanisms; after a change in the nominal exchange rate, trade may increase or decrease. I then show that in the long-run nominal exchange rate variability reduces trade if a sector faces the wage rigidity. A testable implication is that a country whose nominal exchange rate varies less has a comparative advantage in industries that intensively use sticky-wage workers. World trade data supports this comparative-advantage-type prediction.
2023/4/27 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Tatsuji Koizumi (Senior Research Fellow of Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)
Chair: Prof. Kashiwagi
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Reviewing Indica and Japonica rice market development” and “Impacts of the Russian Aggression against Ukraine on Global Wheat Market”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3A308
Abstract:
1) “Reviewing Indica and Japonica rice market development”
Indica and Japonica are the two major types of rice traded on the global market. Product characteristics, production zones, consumer preferences, and government policies influence Indica and Japonica rice market structures. Using the Rice Economy Climate Change (RECC) model, which covers these rice markets in 24 countries and the global rice market, the international Japonica rice price is found to be more volatile than that for Indica rice under possible climate change scenarios. The simulation results also suggest that agricultural investments in major countries producing Indica and Japonica rice will contribute to their price stability over the medium and long term under climate change.
2) “Impacts of the Russian Aggression against Ukraine on Global Wheat Market”
This study examines how decreasing wheat production and exports, agricultural knowledge & innovation systems and labor force recovery in Ukraine due to Russian aggression against Ukraine will contribute to stabilizing global wheat markets by considering future climate change. The simulation results reveal that the decrease in wheat production and exports, agricultural knowledge & innovation systems, and agricultural labor force in Ukraine will impact the global wheat market. This study suggests that the early recovery of agricultural knowledge & innovation systems, and the agricultural labor force in Ukraine will contribute to stabilizing international wheat prices in the long term.
2023/6/8 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Shusaku Sasaki (Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Behavioral Economics Unit, Behavioral Public Policy Team, Division of Scientific Information and Public Policy, Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research (CIDER), Osaka University)
Chair: Prof. Matsushima
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Vaccination and Discrimination: Experimental Evidence under the COVID-19 Pandemic”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3A308
Abstract: In this study, we conduct financially incentivized dictator games with the COVID-19 vaccinated and unvaccinated people in Japan (N=1,578), and ascertain their favorable or hostile attitudes toward each other, by using ingroup favoritism. We measure ingroup favoritism as the difference in the allocated amounts between to ingroup members with the same vaccination status and to outgroup members with a different status. Our analyses suggest that the vaccinated people behave more discriminately toward outgroup members, compared to the unvaccinated people. The vaccinated people show strong ingroup favoritism, which are shaped mainly by their outgroup bias of decreasing the money amount allocated
to an unvaccinated pair, their outgroup member. In contrast, the unvaccinated people do not exhibit such the ingroup favoritism, on average. Their outgroup bias is found in the rather opposite direction of the hypothesis, and they tend to increase the amount to a vaccinated pair, their outgroup member.
We find this tendency in particular from the unvaccinated who selected as their non-vaccination reason
“I would like to get vaccinated if I could, but I cannot for health or other reasons.” Furthermore, we confirm significant associations between their ingroup favoritism and attitudes regarding the COVID19 policies, suggesting that the biases would have some degree of social influence in the real world.
This study’s findings can contribute to discovering how to smoothly build cooperative relationships between vaccinated and unvaccinated people under the current and future pandemics.
Full Text: “Vaccination and Discrimination: Experimental Evidence under the COVID-19 Pandemic”
2023/6/15 (Thur.)
Speaker: Mr. Takanao Tanaka (UC Berkeley, Agricultural and Resource Economics, PhD student)
Chair: Prof. Fukai
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Firm Responses to Electricity Shortages: The Case of the Fukushima Nuclear Accidents”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3A308
Abstract: The nuclear phase-out following the Fukushima Nuclear accident caused a countrywide electricity supply shock, necessitating the manufacturing plants to significantly reduce electricity usage. Utilizing heterogeneous exposure to the regional shortage, we find that these shortages significantly curtailed manufacturing plants’ inputs, and revenue within three years, accounting for 0.5-0.7% of GDP loss. Manufacturing plants substitute electricity with other energy sources and invest in capital that can enhance energy productivity, potentially alleviating the damages. We will extend our analysis by estimating the production function and quantifying the welfare implications of plant adjustments and various policy scenarios.
2023/7/6 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Zhe Chen（Associate Professor at University of International Business and Economics in China）
Chair: Prof. Yu
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: ” Strategic Carry-Along Trade”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3K102
Abstract: Leveraging the detailed Chinese firm-product-destination level data, this study documents the prevalence of carry-along trade (CAT) in China and then explores the strategic behaviour of firms in CAT. Motivated by the asymmetric spillover effects between produced and sourced products along with CAT, we develop a model where exporters self-select into one of the followings: non-CAT exporter, pure CAT exporter and mixed CAT exporter. We then investigate the mechanisms where sourced products are carried to boost the demand of produced products and generate testable implications. First, sourced products carried by mixed CAT exporters tend to have a higher demand elasticity than produced products. Second, when an exporter produces multiple products, the core produced product is more likely to be sold with a sourced product. Third, among the three types of CAT exporters, the production cost of pure CAT exporter is the highest and the marketing cost of non-CAT exporter is the highest. Consistent evidence is found to support the above three implications.
2023/7/13 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Nobuyuki Hanaki (Professor of Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University)
Chair: Prof. Naito
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Cognitive ability and observed behavior in laboratory experiments: implication for macroeconomic theory”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3A308
Abstract:This paper discusses the relationships between the “measured” cognitive ability of participants and their behavior as observed during laboratory experiments. Based on such relationships, macroeconomic implications of micro-level “boundedly rational” individual behavior will be discussed. The paper also addresses potential problems that arise when insufficient attention is paid to large differences in the measured cognitive ability of participants across several experimental laboratories, influencing the replicability of existing experimental results but also the interpretation of results from cross-country experimental analyses, and proposes to complement participants’ database with individual characteristics.
Full Text: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s42973-019-00018-7
2022 Academic Year
Spring ABC:
2022/05/19 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Fukai (Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba)
Chair: Prof. Kurokawa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “How elastic is capacity choice in welfare facilities? Evidence from notches in Japan’s childcare subsidy scheme”
2022/05/26 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Ramdani (Assistant Professor, University of Tsukuba)
Chair: Prof. Kurokawa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “The uncertainty of geospatial data: category, how to handle, manage, and minimize it”
2022/06/16 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Sawada Yasuyuki (Professor, University of Tokyo)
Chair: Prof. Malek
Time: 15:30~16:00 (Reception, Q&A), 16:45~18:15 (Seminar)
Title: “Asia’s Journey to Prosperity”
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/549191/asias-journey-prosperity.pdf
Format: Online
Zoom Link (pre-registration required):
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctc-2hrDMoHtFdK6487HpIbSnn_uuHeJD0
2022/06/23 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Ryo Nakajima (Professor, Keio University)
Chair: Prof. Kurokawa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Marshall Meets Bartik: Revisiting the Mysteries of the Trade (with Yasusada Murata)”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3A308
2022/07/07 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Qian Xingwang (Professor, Buffalo State (SUNY))
Chair: Prof. Kurokawa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “International reserve management, global financial shocks, and firm investment in emerging market economies”
Full Text: https://www.nber.org/papers/w29303 Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room A101, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences Building
2022/07/14 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Tomohiro Hara (Alumni of University of Tsukuba, College of International Studies)
Chair: Prof. Minowa
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Rainbow Nation” through Mass Media: Television, Cultural Diversity, and National Unity in Post-Apartheid South Africa”
Full Text: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bm0l8ripbfjeef8/Hara_UMD_JMP_2021.pdf?dl=0 Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3A308
2022/07/28 (Thur.)
Speaker: TBA
Chair: Prof. Naito
Fall ABC:
2022/10/13(Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. YAMAGATA Tatsufumi and Ms. TAKASU Naoko (Department College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University)
Chair: Prof. Kashiwagi
Time: 16:45~18:15
Title: “Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines to 49 Sub-Saharan African Countries: Which Vaccines Go Where and How?”
Full Text: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/rjaps/40/1/40_83/_article/-char/en
Format: Zoom
Zoom Link (pre-registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwscOqhrTMoHtxII_FI3qFpBORmyCmJk9ZJ
2022/10/27 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr.Shimamoto Daichi（Associate Professor, Kindai University)
Chair: Prof. Matsushima
Time: 16:45~18:45
Title: “A STUDY OF BID-RIGGING IN PROCUREMENT AUCTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA, GEORGIA, MONGOLIA, MALTA, AND STATE OF CALIFORNIA”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3B405
2022/11/24 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Takeshi Aida (Research Fellow, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization (IDE-JETRO))
Chair: Prof. Nakano
Time: 16:45~18:45
Title: “Paddy Cultivation as an Origin of Cooperative Norms: Evidence from Natural and Artefactual Experiments (with Kei Kajisa and Yasuyuki Sawada) ”
Format: Zoom
Zoom Link (pre-registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vf-GqrDspH9RAAyV_leEgRuFg49HbYkup
2022/12/08 (Thur.)
Speaker: Dr. Wu Wenchao (Research Fellow, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences)
Chair: Prof. Yu
Time: 16:45~18:45
Title: “The impact of land-based climate change mitigation measures on global agricultural markets and food security”
Format: Zoom
Zoom Link (pre-registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvceiorTkiH9yc-viNuAvuU8PsuB4yMuOx
2022/12/13 (Tue.)
Speaker: Dr. Astghik Mavisakalyan
Chair: Prof. Naito
Time: 12:15~13:45 (Student-Only Session), 16:45~18:45 (Open to Everyone)
Title: “Mining and Mistrust in Government”
Format: Onsite (University of Tsukuba) Room 3B402
2023/01/12 (Thur.)
Speaker: TBA
Chair: Prof. Fukai
2023/01/26 (Thur.)
Speaker: Prof. Jahen F. Rezki (Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Indonesia)
Chair: Prof. Ramdani
Time: 16:45～18:45 (Seminar)
Title: “Does the Mobile Phone Affect Social Development? Evidence from Indonesian Villages.”
Full Text: https://pepp.hass.tsukuba.ac.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Does-the-Mobile-Phone-Affect-Social-Development-Evidence-from-Indonesian-Villages-by-Prof.-Jahen-F.-Rezki.pdf
Format: Zoom
Zoom Link (pre-registration required): https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ucOGqrjMjEtI1xAKqypNsLsQFTB9FMg7i
