UESUGI Iichiro

Corporate Finance, Small and Medium Enterprises, Japanese Economy

• Study Group on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics (October 1, 2026 - March 31, 2029)
• Study Group on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics (May 13, 2024 - October 31, 2026)
• Study group on corporate finance and firm dynamics (November 1, 2021 - April 30, 2024)
• Study Group on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics (November 11, 2019 - October 31, 2021)
• Study Group on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics (July 14, 2017 - June 30, 2019)
• Study on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics (May 11, 2015 - March 31, 2017)
• Study on Corporate Finance and Firm Dynamics (June 19, 2013 - March 31, 2015)
• Research on Efficient Corporate Financing and Inter-firm Networks (June 15, 2011 - March 31, 2013)
• Study Group on Changes in Financial and Industrial Structures (2006)

2000 Ph.D., Economics University of California, San Diego
1993 Bachelor of Economics, the University of Tokyo

2026 - Assistant to the President for Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
2026 - Director, Research Center for Global Economic Systems, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
2020 – 2022, 2026 - Board Member, Institute of Economic Research, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
2015 - Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
2011 – 2015 Associate Professor, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
2010 - 2011 Senior Fellow (Adjunct), RIETI
2010 Attached to Economic Policy Unit, Minister's Secretariat, METI
2007 - 2010 Associate Professor, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University
2006 - 2007 Consulting Fellow, RIETI / Deputy Director, Research Office, Business Environment Department, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, METI
2002 Fellow, RIETI
2000 Macroeconomic Affairs Division, Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, METI
1995 Planning Division, Coal Department, Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, MITI
1993 Research Division, Industrial Policy Bureau, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI)

Refereed Articles

• Arito Ono, Daisuke Miyakawa, Kaoru Hosono, Hirofumi Uchida, and Iichiro Uesugi, “The effect of transaction partners’ location on firms’ relocation choice: A natural experiment using a massive earthquake in Japan,” Journal of Economic Geography, lbag051, July 2026.
• Iichiro Uesugi, Daisuke Miyakawa, Kaoru Hosono, Arito Ono, and Hirofumi Uchida, “The Collateral Channel versus the Bank Lending Channel: Evidence from a Massive Earthquake,” Journal of Banking and Finance, 170, 107315, January 2025.
• Koji Sakai and Iichiro Uesugi, “The Extent and Efficiency of Credit Reallocation During Economic Downturns,” Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 17(12), 574, December 2024.
• Arito Ono, Katsushi Suzuki, and Iichiro Uesugi, “When banks become pure creditors: The effects of declining shareholding by Japanese banks on bank lending and firms’ risk-taking,” Journal of Financial Stability, 73, 101294, August 2024.
• Arito Ono, Yukiko Saito, Koji Sakai, and Iichiro Uesugi, “Does Geographical Proximity Matter in Small Business Lending? Evidence from Changes in Main Bank Relationships,” Asia-Pacific Journal of Financial Studies, 52, 819-855, October 2023.
• Tomohito Honda, Kaoru Hosono, Daisuke Miyakawa, Arito Ono, and Iichiro Uesugi, “Determinants and Effects of the Use of COVID-19 Business Support Programs in Japan,” Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 67, 101239, March 2023.
• Daisuke Miyakawa, Chihiro Shimizu, and Iichiro Uesugi, “Do Foreign Buyers Pay More Than Domestic Buyers? Evidence from International Transaction-Level Data,” Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, December 2022.
• Iichiro Uesugi, Kazuki Hiraga, Masashi Manabe, and Naoyuki Yoshino, “Measuring Concentration in the Japanese Loan and Deposit Markets,” Japan and the World Economy 63, 101148, August 2022.
• Tomohito Honda and Iichiro Uesugi, “COVID-19 and Precautionary Corporate Cash Holdings: Evidence from Japan,” Japanese Journal of Monetary and Financial Economics, 10, pp. 19-43, 2022.
• Taisuke Uchino and Iichiro Uesugi, “The Effects of a Megabank Merger on Firm-Bank Relationships and Loan Availability,” Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 63, 101189, March 2022.
• Arito Ono, Hirofumi Uchida, Gregory F. Udell, and Iichiro Uesugi, "Lending Pro-Cyclicality and Macro-Prudential Policy: Evidence from Japanese LTV Ratios," Journal of Financial Stability, 100819, April 2021.
• Makoto Hazama and Iichiro Uesugi, "Measuring the Systemic Risk in Interfirm Transaction Networks," Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 137, pp. 259-281, May 2017.
• Kaoru Hosono, Daisuke Miyakawa, Taisuke Uchino, Makoto Hazama, Arito Ono, Hirofumi Uchida, and Iichiro Uesugi, "Natural Disasters, Damage to Banks, and Firm Investment," International Economic Review 57(4), pp. 1335–1370, November 2016.
• Hirofumi Uchida, Daisuke Miyakawa, Kaoru Hosono, Arito Ono, Taisuke Uchino, and Iichiro Uesugi, "Financial Shocks, Bankruptcy, and Natural Selection," Japan and the World Economy 36, pp. 123–135, November 2015.
• Arito Ono and Iichiro Uesugi, "SME Financing in Japan during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Firm Surveys," International Review of Entrepreneurship 12(4), pp. 191–218, 2014.
• Arito Ono, Iichiro Uesugi, and Yukihiro Yasuda, "Are Lending Relationships Beneficial or Harmful for Public Credit Guarantees? Evidence from Japan's Emergency Credit Guarantee Program," Journal of Financial Stability 9(2), pp. 151-167, June 2013.
• Kentaro Nakajima, Yukiko Saito, and Iichiro Uesugi, "Measuring Economic Localization: Evidence from Japanese Firm-level Data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 26(2), pp.201-220, June 2012.
• Arito Ono, Koji Sakai, and Iichiro Uesugi, "The Effects of Collateral on Firm Performance," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 26(1), pp. 84-109, March 2012.
• Iichiro Uesugi, Koji Sakai, and Guy M. Yamashiro, "The Effectiveness of Public Credit Guarantees in the Japanese Loan Market," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 24(4), pp. 457-480, December 2010.
• Koji Sakai, Iichiro Uesugi, and Tsutomu Watanabe, "Firm Age and the Evolution of Borrowing Costs: Evidence from Japanese Small Firms," Journal of Banking and Finance 34(8), pp. 1970-1981, August 2010.
• Arito Ono and Iichiro Uesugi, "Role of Collateral and Personal Guarantees in Relationship Lending: Evidence from Japan's SME Loan Market," Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 41(5), pp. 935-960, August 2009.
• Iichiro Uesugi and Guy M. Yamashiro, "The Relationship between Trade Credit and Loans: Evidence from Small Businesses in Japan," International Journal of Business 13(2), pp. 141-164, Spring 2008.
• Iichiro Uesugi and Guy M. Yamashiro, "Economic Conditions and Japanese Firm Financing," Economics Bulletin 5(12), pp. 1-17, August 2006.
• Iichiro Uesugi and Guy M. Yamashiro, "Trading Company Finance in Japan," International Journal of Business 11(1), pp. 63-80, Winter 2006.
• Iichiro Uesugi, "Measuring the Liquidity Effect: The Case of Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 16(3), pp. 289-316, September 2002.

Working Papers

• Masashige Hamano, Philip Schnattinger, Mototsugu Shintani, Iichiro Uesugi, and Francesco Zanetti, “Credit Market Tightness and Zombie Firms: Theory and Evidence, ” RCESR Discussion Paper Series, DP25-2, 2025.
• Tomohito Honda, Kaoru Hosono, Daisuke Miyakawa, Arito Ono, and Iichiro Uesugi, “Imperfect Take-up of COVID-19 Business Support Programs,” RIETI Discussion Paper 24-E-001, 2024.
• Tomohito Honda, Arito Ono, Iichiro Uesugi, and Yukihiro Yasuda, “An Anatomy of Out-of-Court Debt Workouts for SMEs,” RIETI Discussion Paper 23-E-088, 2023.
• Yoshiaki Ogura, Iichiro Uesugi, and Hiromichi Iwaki, “Unsecured Loans and Intangible Investment,” RIETI Discussion Paper 23-E-034, 2023.
• Kaoru Hosono, Daisuke Miyakawa, Arito Ono, Hirofumi Uchida, and Iichiro Uesugi, "Damage to the Transportation Infrastructure and Disruption of Inter-firm Transactional Relationships," RIETI Discussion Paper 19-E-043, 2019.
• Iichiro Uesugi, Kaoru Hosono, Daisuke Miyakawa, Arito Ono, and Hirofumi Uchida, "Reallocation of Tangible Assets and Productivity," RIETI Discussion Paper 18-E-048, 2018.
• Daisuke Miyakawa, Kaoru Hosono, Taisuke Uchino, Arito Ono, Hirofumi Uchida, and Iichiro Uesugi, "Financial Shocks and Firm Exports: A natural experiment approach with a massive earthquake" RIETI Discussion Paper 14-E-010, 2014.

Books

• Iichiro Uesugi, The Economics of SME Finance, Springer, 2025.
  (The Japanese version of the book was awarded the 65th Nikkei Prize for Excellent Books in Economic Science and the 2022 Awards for Studies on Small Business from Shoko Research Institute)
• Tsutomu Watanabe, Iichiro Uesugi, and Arito Ono (Eds.), The Economics of Interfirm Networks, Advances in Japanese Business and Economics Vol. 4, Tokyo: Springer, 2015.
• Hirofumi Uchida, Arito Ono, Souichirou Kozuka, Makoto Hazama, and Iichiro Uesugi, Interfirm Relationships and Trade Credit in Japan: Evidence from Micro-Data, Springer Briefs in Economics, Tokyo: Springer, 2015.