The study of inequality in economics has long primarily focused on income and wage disparity. However, as inequality has become a major concern in many societies, the recent focus is not only on economic disparity but also on disparities in education, health, information, infrastructure, and other important dimensions. Research using historic data and focusing on intergenerational linkage are also carried out to help examine the mechanisms behind inequality and its persistent nature. Nevertheless, these studies are done among individual fields and are not shared broadly.
Our project intends to share the acquired knowledge across the fields and study them from a broader point of view. We will clarify the cons and pros of these researches and use the available data and construct new data. We aim to study and clarify the multidimensional disparities and the influences between them. Our research will search the disparity in social welfare, how it is created, how it continues, and how it should be resolved. Additionally, we will also specifically look into the disparities in today's Japan, the problems associated with them, and make evidence-based policy recommendations. To do so, we believe that historical viewpoints and international comparison are essential. Our project, therefore, will continue to conduct research in collaboration with researchers specializing in disparities from around the world. We aim to build better policy by shedding light on Japan's disparity problem through the point of comparative economic history.
Although the collective term "emerging countries" is used, social and economic institutions and levels of economic development differ among countries and areas such as China, Russia, South America, and Southeast Asia. Moreover, although it is essential to acquire sufficient official statistics in emerging countries, the information in their official statistics is significantly lacking and on many occasions, there are legal and institutional restrictions for gaining these data too. The use of independent data is a prerequisite for our research.
Through this project, we will collaborate with researchers from around the world and with other political institutions, create a new database, promote the development of historical statistics, and conduct an empirical analysis of each country's current economic system and the process of its development. Using a standardized framework, we will analyze and compare them and we will work to clarify the common factors or singularities lying among these emerging countries
The first goal of SDGs is to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. To help design and implement appropriate development policies, it is important to understand precisely how the market economy works in low-income countries of Asia and Africa. The causes of absolute poverty among these countries are in common with many of the problems Japan faced before WWII.
The project will not only empirically analyze the determinants of institutions and causal effects of policies by collecting original micro-data through field surveys and other means in Asia and Africa but will also include the historical experiences of Japan and other developed countries in the analysis to derive new knowledge on long-term development strategies to realize poverty reduction.
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