The Center for Economic Institutions (CEI) is affiliated with the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, and was established in April 2000 with the aims of conducting systematic basic research on economic institutions and becoming the center of international research network for this purpose. "Financial Systems and Corporate Governance in Japan and Asia" was selected as our first research topic, and CEI has promoted research in the fields of finance and development economics, completing our first project in March 2006.
In April 2006, CEI has added two new topics, "Comparison of Enterprise Performance in East Asia" and "Research into Family-Owned Enterprises." Another topic, "Empirical Analysis of the Dynamics of Firms and Industries," was added in April 2008. Under these projects, CEI has developed databases on enterprise systems and measured productivities of firms and industries in Japan and East Asia.
In April 2010, as CEI's research activities entered a new decade, we introduced a new research topic, "Economic Development and Institutions in Low-Income Countries in Asia and Africa." To pursue this research, the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (S) project entitled "Poverty Reduction, Institutions, Markets, and Policies in Developing Countries: Toward a Theory of Comparative Economic Development (PRIMCED)" (project leader: Takashi Kurosaki) was conducted for five years (http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/primced/).
In April 2016, CEI has established a new research topic, "Comparative Institutional Analysis of Economic Systems in Emerging Countries." In newly developing countries such as Russia, China, and India, population size is an important determinant of the size of their economies. In this project, to promote a comprehensive understanding of the economic systems in emerging countries, we have investigated determinants of population dynamics and firm behaviors using both microdata and meta-analysis.
In April 2021, CEI is launching a new research topic, "Comprehensive Analysis of Disparity." As inequality has become a major concern in many societies, we focus not only on economic disparity, but also on disparities in education, health, information, and other important dimensions and explore their interrelations, long-run trends, and institutional determinants.
At the same time, we consider continuity in research at CEI to be important. The results of CEI's research over the past two decades have been accumulated in the forms of the publication of books, journal articles, and working papers; the creation of an extensive international network of researchers; and the construction of original databases. We are committed not only to maintaining and updating these research outcomes but also to linking the past outcomes to our new research topics so that we will continue to serve and grow as a center for collaborations of research communities in Japan and overseas.
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