The Center for Economic Institutions (CEI) was established in 2000 with the first research theme, "Financial Systems and Corporate Governance in Japan and Asia." CEI promoted research in finance and development economics.
In 2006, CEI added two new research themes, "Comparison of Enterprise Performance in East Asia" and "Research into Family-Owned Enterprises." CEI also added another research theme, "Empirical Analysis of the Dynamics of Firms and Industries," in 2008. Under these projects, CEI developed databases on enterprise systems and measured the productivity of firms and industries in Japan and East Asia.
In 2010, CEI introduced a new research theme, "Economic Development and Institutions in Low-Income Countries in Asia and Africa." To pursue this research, CEI utilized 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)" (principal investigator: Takashi Kurosaki, see its details in http://www.ier.hit-u.ac.jp/primced/).
In 2016, CEI established a new research theme, "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, researchers investigated determinants of population dynamics and firm behaviors using both microdata and meta-analysis.
In 2021, CEI launched a new research theme, "Comprehensive Analysis of Disparity." As inequality has become a major concern in many societies, researchers 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.
In 2026, CEI introduced a new research theme, "Comprehensive Analysis of Monetary and Fiscal Policies," which promotes a comprehensive research agenda on the effects of monetary and fiscal policies on the Japanese economy and the mechanisms through which these effects propagated over the past half-century.
In principle, CEI prioritizes continuity in research. The research outputs of CEI's activities over the past two decades have been accumulated in 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 products but also to linking past outcomes to our new research topics so that we will continue to serve and grow as a center for collaborations among research communities in Japan and overseas.
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