ASO Yoshibumi
Professor, Faculty of Law, Keio University
Before his current position, Professor Aso was Associate Professor at Keio University. Before joining Keio University, he taught at the Institute of Economic Research at Hitotsubashi University, the economics department of Nihon University, Niigata University. He has also conducted research at the research institute of the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication (currently the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications). Professor Aso completed his Ph.D. Program at Hitotsubashi University.
Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University
In addition to the above positions, Professor Fukao is also President of Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER), where he was previously Research Director of Financial Studies. Before joining Keio University, he held influential positions at the Bank of Japan (Head pf the Strategic Research Division of the Research and Statistics Department, Senior Economist at the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, and Manager of the Foreign Department), OECD (Principal Administrator at the Economic Department), and the Economic Planning Agency (Senior Economist). He joined the Bank of Japan after graduating from Kyoto University. Professor Fukao obtained his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan.
Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University
Professor Higuchi is also Executive Director of the Research Institute of the National Life Finance Corporation. In addition to his positions at Keio University which he joined in 1980, he has held numerous visiting teaching and fellowship positions at Ohio State University (Visiting Professor), Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (Visiting Research Fellow), Hitotsubashi University (Visiting Professor) and Columbia University (Visiting Research Fellow). Professor Higuchi obtained his Ph.D. from Keio University and specializes in labor economics and quantitative economics. He has numerous publications on labor economics, including Japanese Economy and Labor Supply Behavior (Toyo Keizai Shimposya), Labor Economics (Toyo Keizai Shimposya), Economics of Employment and Unemployment (Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sya), and Personnel Economics (Seisansei Shuppan).
Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor of Graduate School in Economics, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo
Prior to his current position, he was a professor at the University College of London, London University and the Deputy Director at the Center for Microdata Methods and Practice. He received a BA in Economics from Osaka University in 1981 and a PhD in Economics from MIT in 1988.
Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Director, Department of Empirical Social Security Research, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
Prior to assuming his current post in 2004, he was Senior Researcher at Department of Empirical Social Security Research, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research from 1996 and a researcher at Japan Institute of Labour. He also serves as part-time Visiting Professor since 2004 and before that, was Visiting Associate Professor since 1998 at the Graduate School Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University. Professor Kaneko obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from Hitotsubashi University and graduated from the Faculty of Economics in 1985 and from the Faculty of Social Science in 1983.
KOSHIRO Kazutoshi (Pen name: Kazuyoshi)
Emeritus Professor, Yokohama National University / Vice-Chair of the Pension Council, the Social Security Deliberation Council, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2002-2004)
He is also visiting professor at the University of the Air (Open University). He has worked for various government commissions in the field of labor and welfare. He undertook research at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Illinois and the Japan Institute of Labour. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tokyo in 1965. His major works are A Study in American Industrial Democracy, University of Tokyo Press, 1965; A Fifty-year History of Industry and Labor in Postwar Japan, Japan Institute of Labour, 2000.
Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)
Prior to her current position, Professor Kurosawa was Associate Professor at GRIPS, Meiji Gakuin University, and Josai University, and a visiting Assistant Professor at Barnard College at Columbia University, and Research Fellow at the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She specializes in labor economics and applied quantitative economics. Professor Kurosawa holds a Ph.D. in economics from the London School of Economics. Her major works include: "Transition from School to Work in Japan," Journal of Japanese and International Economies, Vol. 15, 2001 (with Yuji Genda). "The Extent and Impact of Enterprise Training: the Case of Kitakyushu City," Japanese Economic Review, Vol. 52, No.2, 2001. "A Method for the Analysis of the Timing and Magnitude of Events in Continuous-Time Panels: The Effects of British Incomes Policy 1950-73," Journal of Econometrics, September, 59, 1993 (with Stephen Pudney).
Olivia S. MITCHELL
Professor of Insurance & Risk Management, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA
In addition to her Wharton professorship, Dr. Mitchell holds numerous other management and research posts at the University of Pennsylvania. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Economic Association and advises on pension issues at the University of Michigan, University of Tilburg (the Netherlands), and the University of New South Wales (Australia). She holds research positions at the National Bureau of Economic Research and the TIAA-CREF Institute, and she sits on the editorial board of numerous journals. She has previously served on Advisory Boards for the Social Security Administration, the Congressional Budget Office, the Comptroller General, the Government Accountability Office, and she served in 2001 as Commissioner for the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security. She has taught and conducted research at numerous universities including Beijing University, Frankfurt University, Cornell University, and Harvard University. Professor Mitchell obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has published widely on pension-related issues, including most recently, Reinventing the Retirement Paradigm (Oxford University Press, 2005) and Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance (Oxford University Press, 2004).
Fellow, RIETI
Prior to his current position, Mr. Nakata was Lecturer at the Venture Business Laboratory, Yokohama National University. His major specializations are, macroeconomics, Endogenous Economic Growth, Social Security, Numerical Simulation, Sustainable PAYGO Pension System, and Gender-Equal Society. Mr. Nakata has an MA in economics from Yokohama National University and is a Ph.D. candidate at the same university.
Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Science, Toyo Eiwa University
Dr. Noguchi was Research Fellow in 2004 and Adjunct Researcher in 2003 at the Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office after she became Associate Professor in the Faculty of Social Science of Toyo Eiwa University in 2003. She also began serving as Adjunct Researcher for Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcome Research in 2002 and Adjunct Researcher, International Longevity Center-Japan in 2001. Prior to becoming Assistant Professor at Toyo Eiwa University in 2000, Dr. Noguchi worked in the United States at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), National Bureau of Economic Research and Department of Public Health, Stanford University and International Longevity Center, Department of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine (NY), while she obtained her Ph.D. in Economics from City University of New York in 1997.
Major works: "Nonprofit and for-Profit Providers in Japan's at-Home Care Industry: Evidence on Quality of Service and Household Choice" (Coauthored with Shimizutani S.), Economics Bulletin, 9(3), 2005; "Associations of Renal Insufficiency with Treatment and Outcomes after Myocardial Infarction in the Elderly" (Coauthored with Shlipak M., Heidenreich P., Warren B., and McClellan M.), Annals of Internal Medicine, 137: 555-562, 2002
OHASHI Isao
Professor, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University
Prior to assuming his current position in 1999, Dr. Ohashi served as Professor (1990-1999) and Associate Professor (1983-1990) of Economics at Nagoya University, Associate Professor of Socio-Economic Planning at University of Tsukuba (1980-1983), Associate Professor of Economics at Nagoya City University (1975-1979) and Assistant Professor of Economics at Nagoya University (1973-1974). He was also at the Faculty of Economics of the Harvard University as a Fulbright researcher (Sep.-Dec. 1979). The area of his expertise includes Labor Economics and Theoretical Economics. He obtained his PhD in Economics from Nagoya University in 1979.
Major works: Internal Labour Market, Incentives and Employment, co-edited by Toshiaki Tachibanaki, The Macmillan Press, 1998; "Wages, Hours of Work and Job Satisfaction of Retirement-Age Workers," The Japanese Economic Review, Vol. 56, No. 2, June 2005.
Chairman, RIETI
Prior to his current position, Mr. Oikawa served as Senior Executive Director, Development Bank of Japan (2003-2005); Advisor, Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.(20003-2005); Research Counselor, TEPIA (2002-2003); Commissioner, Japan Patent Office(2000); Director-General, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency(1998); Director-General for Policy Coordination, Minister's Secretariat (1997); Councilor, Cabinet Secretariat; Deputy Director-General for Security Export Control, International Trade Administration Bureau (1994); Director, Coordination Division, Bureau of Equipment, Japan Defense Agency; Director, Small Enterprise Policy Division, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency; Counselor, Japanese Mission to European Community, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1998); Director, Paper, Pulp & Printing Division, Consumer Goods Industries Bureau (1986). He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a B.A. in economics.
John PIGGOTT
Professor, University of New South Wales, Australia
Dr. John Piggott is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Pensions and Superannuation at the University of New South Wales. At UNSW, he is Acting Dean, Faculty of Commerce and Economics. He has also served as Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty (2002-2005), as a Director of UNSW Professorial Superannuation Ltd.(1999-2003) , and as Head of the School of Economics (1997-2002). He holds a BA from the University of Sydney, and MSc and PhD degrees from the University of London. Past appointments include research and teaching positions at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and at the Australian National University, Canberra. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 1992. Dr Piggott has a long standing interest in issues relating to retirement and pension economics and finance. His publications include more than 80 journal articles and chapters in books, which have appeared in leading international academic journals as well as in highly cited conference volumes.
Ole SETTERGREN
Director of the Department of Pensions, Swedish Social Insurance Agency, Sweden
While at the National Social Insurance Board, he coordinated the research on pension as Lead Economist, and before that, as Head of Section, he was responsible for setting the standard for The Annual Report of the Swedish Pension System. As expert to the Pensions Reform Group at the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs he penned the legislation on the automatic balance mechanism. Mr. Settergren obtained his MBA from the Stockholm School of Economics. He has numerous publications in the field of public pensions. The most recent is "The Rate of Return of Pay-as-You-Go pension systems: a more exact consumption-loan model of interest" which appeared in the Journal of Pension and Finance Economics (2005).
Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Associate Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
Before appointment to his current post in 2004, Professor Shimizutani worked at the Cabinet Office of Japan (2001) and the Economic Planning Agency of Japan (1990). His primary research area is micro-level empirical analysis of the Japanese economy. His current research topics include (1) the effects of macroeconomic policy on behavior of households and firms, including the tax cuts implemented in the 1990s; (2) human capital markets (education and labor markets) and R&D as important determinants of long-term economic growth; and (3) efficient management of health care markets (medical care, long-term care and child care) under rapid aging and declining fertility. Professor Shimizutani holds a Ph.D. in economics and an M.A. in applied economics from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. in law from the University of Tokyo.
Major works: An Economic Analysis on the Elderly and Child Care in Japan: Micro-level Investigation with Policy Implication (in Japanese with H. Noguchi), Toko-Keizai Shimpo Sha, 2004; Expectations and Uncertainty in a Deflationary Economy - A Microeconomic Analysis of the Japanese Economy (in Japanese), Nihon Keizai Shimbun Sha, 2005.
Faculty Fellow and Research Counselor, RIETI / Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University
Professor Tachibanaki's areas of expertise are labor economics and public economics. He has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.
Major works: Confronting Income Inequality in Japan: A Comparative Analysis of Causes, Consequences, And Reform, MIT Press, Upcoming, Wage Determination and Distribution in Japan, Oxford University Press and Public Policies and the Japanese Economy, Macmillan Press
TAKEISHI Emiko
Head Senior Analyst, Social Development Research Group, NLI Research Institute
Prior to her current position, Ms. Takeishi was Associate Professor at Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo, and also worked for the Ministry of Labour (currently the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). She specializes in human resource management, female labor theory. Ms. Takeishi has finished her Ph.D. program at Ochanomizu University. Her major works include New Era of Female Labor (Tokyo University Press).
Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Director, Actuarial Affairs Division, Pension Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)
Prior to his current post, Mr. Yamazaki was Director, Office of Administration on Actuarial Coordination at the same division, Director, Office of Actuarial Affairs and Research, Planning and Pension Management Division, Social Insurance Agency, Deputy Director, Actuarial Affairs Division, Pension Bureau, Deputy Director, Administration and Planning Division, Statistics and Information Department, Deputy Director, Corporate Pension and National Pension Fund Division, Pension Bureau. He has also been seconded to the Social Insurance Agency and the International Labour Office. Mr. Yamazaki has a Master of Science from the University of Tokyo.
President and CRO, RIETI
Prior to his current post, Dr. Yoshitomi was Dean of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Institute, Tokyo (1999-2003). He was also Visiting Executive Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1993-98). Dr. Yoshitomi served as Director-General, Coordination Bureau at the Economic Planning Agency (EPA) (1991-92); Director-General, Economic Research Institute, EPA (1987-91); and Director, Economics and Statistics Department, OECD, Paris (1984-87). He also served as an economist at the IMF (Washington, D.C.) (1970-74). He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Tokyo.
Major works: Reality of the Asian Economies--Miracle, Crisis, and Evolution of Institutions-- ,2003 (in Japanese); Post-Crisis Development Paradigms in Asia (co-authored with the staff of the ADB Institute), 2003; Reality of the Japanese Economy--Beyond Conventional Views--, 1998 (in Japanese).
