Researchers

Yukiko Abe, Researcher (Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University)

Profile

Yukiko Abe graduated from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Economics in 1987 and obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate School at Princeton University in 1994. After stints with the Faculties of Economics at Nagoya City University and Asia University, she took up a position as an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University in 2005. She assumed her present post in 2009.

Publications

Family Labor Supply, Commuting Time, and Residential Decisions: The Case of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Journal of Housing Economics 20, pp. 49–63, 2011; The Equal Employment Opportunity Law and Labor Force Behavior of Women in Japan, Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 25, pp. 39–55, 2011; Regional Variations in Labor Force Behavior of Women in Japan, Japan and the World Economy, forthcoming, 2013.

I have recently engaged in an international comparative study on regional differences in women’s participation in the workforce.

Tsutomu Hashimoto, Researcher (Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University)

Profile

Tsutomu Hashimoto graduated from Yokohama National University’s College of Economics in 1990. He completed a Doctoral Program at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1996 before going on to earn a Ph.D. He became a Lecturer at Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Economics in 1996 and assumed his present post in 2011 after serving as a Visiting Scholar at New York University.

Publications

How to Live with Freedom (in Japanese), Chikumashobo Ltd., November 2007; Dispute over Max Weber in Japan (in Japanese), author and editor, Nakanishiya Shuppan, Jul. 2008; Sociology of Freedom (in Japanese), NTT Publishing Co., Ltd., Dec. 2010.

Kenta Hiramoto, Researcher (Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University)

Profile

Kenta Hiramoto graduated from Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Economics in 1987 and partially completed a Doctoral Course in the Division of Business Administration at the Graduate School of Economics, Hokkaido University in 1991. After serving as an Associate Professor at Shiga University’s Faculty of Economics, he took up a position as an Associate Professor at Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Economics in 1997 and assumed his present post in 2008. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration Degree.

Publications

Information Systems and Competitive Advantages (in Japanese), Hakuto-Shobo Publishing Company, 2007; The Essence of Strategic Collaboration: Value Creation by NPOs, Government and Businesses (in Japanese), author and editor, Yuhikaku Publishing Co., Ltd., 2011.

In today’s world of globalization and standardization, regions have an increasingly significant role to play in the formation of multifaceted social values. One of REBN’s tasks is to address various regional problems and challenges directly from local and regional perspectives. I hope to explore, both in theory and in practice, measures that help regions and their residents to develop vibrant economies and societies.

Yuji Sakagawa, Researcher (Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University)

Profile

In 1994, I graduated from Otaru University of Commerce — Department of Commerce. In 1998, I completed doctoral coursework at Kobe University Graduate School of Business Administration but did not receive a degree. Also in 1998, I served as a Department of Commerce Lecturer at Otaru University of Commerce, and in 2004, I was an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economic and Business Administration, Hokkaido University. He assumed his present post in 2013. Ph.D in Economics.

Publications

“Supply Chain Optimization Behavior and the Dynamic State of the Retail Business Format–Application of the Deferred Speculation Model to the Business Format Lifecycle,” Shobaigyo Kakushin (Retail Innovation), Chikura Pub., Jan. 2010.

I am conducting research on themes related to marketing and distribution problems in the Japanese market. In my local economy research, I have recently focused on marketing problems within the tourism industry, which is important in terms of policy, as well as in the development of the “sixth industry,” (i.e., local farming and processing that produces food of a higher value), which is impacting the Hokkaido economy. As such, I aim to undertake research that will contribute to the local economy.

Shingo Takagi, Researcher (Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University)

Profile

Shingo Takagi graduated from Waseda University’s School of Political Science and Economics in 1995 and completed a Doctoral Program at Osaka University’s Graduate School of Economics in 2000. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics. After serving as an Associate Professor at Osaka Prefecture University, he took up a position as an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University in 2000. He has served as an Associate Professor at the Public Policy Course in the Department of Public Policy of the university’s Faculty of Public Policy since 2011. He assumed his present post in 2016.

Publications

Effects of Learning Mathematics on Grades in Economics: A Control Function Approach for Estimation and Pretesting (in Japanese), co-author, submitted; Effects of Competition with Endogenous Entry on the Retail Power Market: an Auction Data Analysis (in Japanese), co-author, Nihon Keizai Kenkyu (JCER Economic Journal), 2009.

I have studied data analysis methods and applications with recent focus on statistical analysis using bid/auction data. The roles expected of bidding systems are large amid today’s rising tides of marketization, the easing of market entry regulations, and other developments in a variety of fields. Accordingly, they have significant impacts on local economies based on the partial opening of public services to the private sector, public works projects and more. Through my research, I strive to analyze real data with an eye on the extent to which these current structures produce the expected effects and how they can be improved.

Mikine Yamazaki, Researcher (Professor, Public Policy School, Hokkaido University)

Profile

Mikine Yamazaki graduated from Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Law in 1990 and partially completed a Doctoral Program at the university’s Graduate School of Law in 1995 with full credits. He received a Ph.D. in law in 1998. After serving as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Research Fellow (PD), he took up a position in the Department of Economics at the Kushiro Public University of Economics in 1997. He became an Associate Professor at Hokkaido University’s Graduate School of Law in 2001 and assumed his current post in 2007. He served as a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations of the University of Aberdeen in the UK (Scotland) from 2002 to 2004.

Publications

Devolution and Integration over Territories: With Special Reference to Scotland (in Japanese), Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 2011; Challenges and Achievements of Scotland: A Decade of Citizens and the Parliament that Changed the Region (in Japanese), co-authored/co-edited with the Association of Journalists for Decentralization and Local Self-government, Imagine Publishing Co., Ltd., 2010; History of the Postwar Development of Hokkaido: Looking Back on Development Policy through Dialogue and Chronological Table (in Japanese), co-authored/co-edited with Shuji Koiso, Hokkaido Development Association, 2007; Era of National Land Development: Self-Government and Rule of Postwar Hokkaido (in Japanese), University of Tokyo Press, 2006.

I have researched the territory-oriented national land development policies of Hokkaido, Okinawa, and other regions in postwar Japan as well as relations between national and regional governments. In recent years I have studied trends of devolution in the UK with particular focus on the Scottish Parliament/Government and have also researched trends of the local self-government system (and reform) in contemporary Japan and of reform toward the introduction of a doshu-sei regional government system from the viewpoint of comparative study.

Tomokazu Abe, Researcher (Associate Professor, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University)

Profile

In 2001, I graduated from Hitotsubashi University Faculty of Social Sciences. In 2007, I completed doctoral coursework toward a Ph.D. at Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Commerce and Management. In Feb. 2008 I received a Ph.D. In Apr. 2007, I served as a Lecturer at Nagasaki University Faculty of Economics, and became an Associate Professor in Oct. 2008. Since Apr. 2011, I have served as an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University.

Publications

“A Review Article: Workplace Design and Knowledge Creation,” The Annals of Research Center for Economic and Business Networks, 3, Hokkaido University, 2014.

I have been studying; both empirically and theoretically, workspace design and intra-organizational communication. Recently I have been involved in joint research on co-working .