Workshop

Hitotsubashi-RIETI International Workshop on Real Estate Market and the Macro Economy (Summary)

Information

  • Time and Date: 9:50-17:00, Monday, December 15, 2014
  • Venue: RIETI's seminar room #1121 (METI Annex 11th Floor)
  • Language: English
  • Hosts: Hitotsubashi University / Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)

Summary

Real estate markets have been the epicenter of a number of disastrous financial crises around the world, including Japan, the United States, and Europe. Their relevance for economic growth and business cycles has been underlined by numerous studies. Against this background, the Hitotsubashi Project on Real Estate Market, Financial Crisis, and Economic Dynamics (HIT-REFINED) and the Study Group on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) are focusing on the real estate market in Japan, which has stagnated for the past 20 years, and jointly examine its association with financial crises and economic growth.

The project now invites professionals from abroad and holds a one-day workshop in order to present and discuss its research output on the following two issues: (1) construction of real estate price indices that may detect emergence and collapse of the bubble and (2) interactions between real estate market and economic activities, including firms' investment behavior and portfolio allocation of households. A keynote speech will be given by Professor David Geltner of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) followed by four research presentations, each of which will be discussed in detail. All of these are expected to be published in the special issue of Keizai Kenkyu (The Economic Review), a refereed journal issued by the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.