From Kitakyushu to the world: AGI, a research institute that studies Asia's economy and society
Research Division
RESEARCH GROUP Ⅱ
Growth Policies and Experiences among Asian Countries
Japan was the first Asian country to become a modern developed country and has experienced various successes and failures, all of which can serve as valuable references for growing Asian countries. This group conducts research on what emerging Asian countries, as Japan’s important economic cooperation partners, can learn from Japan’s economic development process and related policies, and make policy recommendations based on the research findings.
Moreover, the present era is no longer one in which institutional reforms can be learned only from western countries. In this area, this group conducts research on what Japan can learn from the dynamic economic growth and related policies of Asian countries that grew remarkably in recent years, making policy recommendations based on the research results.
| Group Leader | KISHIMOTO Chikashi |
|---|---|
| Member | YAO Ying |
| PENG Xue | |
| TAKAGI Sjnji |
Research Projects for FY2024
In the FY2024 project, I will focus on the efforts and strategies of supporting actors in the startup ecosystem in Taiwan, and accumulate case studies. Supporting actors – specifically, universities, research institutes, mature companies (especially large companies), investors (venture capitalists, angel investors, etc.), and other supporting actors (accelerators, incubators, etc.) – support entrepreneurs and startups from their respective standpoints, provide various resources, and at the same time receive some kind of return from them (e.g., investment income, complementary business and technology, human resources, etc.). As this cycle continues to circulate, the entire ecosystem will survive and grow.
Over the past several years, I have conducted a series of research projects on Taiwan’s ecosystem, with a particular focus on accelerator and incubator initiatives and strategies. In FY 2024, based on this accumulation, I will continue to conduct interviews and case studies to further cover the missing areas and strive to gain a detailed understanding of each category of startup-supporting actors in Taiwan and to be able to get a bird’s-eye view of the overall picture.
Economic Evaluations of Bias in Drug Development on Health Outcomes
Staff:YAO Ying
Assistant Professor
Research and Development (R&D) is crucial for advancing drug access and improving public health. However, its trajectory often fails to align with the diverse healthcare needs of the broader population. Disparities in R&D investments limit access to essential drugs for rare conditions and raise equity concerns in pharmaceutical innovation, impacting health outcomes. This study examines how innovation trends in drug development affect health and economic outcomes. It investigates corporate R&D strategies and the regulatory environment to understand health implications of unbalanced R&D priorities. The focus is on rare diseases and long-term conditions, assessing equitable drug innovation for population needs. The project aims to inform policy and industry changes, aligning R&D initiatives more closely with the population’s healthcare needs.
What Kind of Cities are Incubating More Vloggers? An Analysis on the Characteristics and Underlying Factors of the Distribution of TikTok Vloggers in Chinese Cities
担当：PENG Xue
Assistant Professor
Online short videos, as a novel form of social media, are increasingly influencing socio-economic activities in modern cities. Vloggers, short for video bloggers, are creating and sharing video content on online platforms like TikTok, and YouTube, covering various topics including travel, lifestyle, education, reviews, and more. Vloggers (particularly those influential ones) are rich in creativity and entrepreneurship and are a vital force within the creative class. Therefore, fostering more vloggers is beneficial for cities to enhance their competitiveness.
Existing research on creative class has mainly focused on entrepreneurs and highly skilled workers. Recent studies have begun to pay attention to new types of talents active on social media, such as livestream commerce hosts (Peng & He, 2021). However, vloggers have seldom been studies, despite their much broader impact on the cultural and economic aspects of urban life.
This research project is going to utilize data on TikTok vloggers in Chinese prefecture-level cities. Spatial regression models will be employed to investigate the characteristics and underlying factors of their distribution. Based on the findings, this study will also give some suggestions for urban managers on formulating more effective talent incubation policies in the digital economy era.
Quantitative Analysis of Prewar and War-time Exchange Rate Systems in Japan and China
Staff:TAKAGI Shinji
Distinguished Professor
This researcher has been engaged in a comprehensive study of Japan’s exchange rate policy from the Bakumatsu period to the end of World War II, with a view to preparing a book-length manuscript. As part of this research, two themes have emerged as potentially contributing to the literature on open economy macroeconomics: (1) whether the Bank of Japan followed the rules of the game under the classical gold standard (1897-1914) and (2) how the linked rate (an implicit exchange rate) was determined between North and Central China under Japanese military rule (1939-43), when Japan established the United Reserve Bank in Beijing and the Central Reserve Bank in Nanjing. The purpose of the proposed research is to gather as much data as possible from the gold standard era and the Japanese occupation period of China and to apply econometric tools to address the questions posed. Two empirical papers suitable for publication in international refereed journals will be prepared.