Koichi Hamada

Biography

Koichi Hamada is Tuntex Professor of Economics at Yale University, where he specializes in the Japanese economy and international economics, and Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, where he taught before moving to Yale in 1986.

Hamada’s game-theoretic study of international monetary relations is regarded as one of the first studies that drew attention to the strategic aspects of macroeconomic policy in interdependent nations. He was one among the few who applied the methodology of “Law and Economics” to Japan’s legal system in the 1970s.

His work on policy coordination, one of which first applied game theory to international finance is published as The Political Economy of International Monetary Interdependence (MIT Press, 1985) and some of his economic articles are collected in Strategic Approaches to the International Economy: Selected Essays of Koichi Hamada.

In Japan, he participated in many policy committees at the Ministry of Finance, MITI, the Economic Planning Agency and other ministries.

In 1997, Professor Hamada served as a member of the external evaluation team of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) Program of the International Monetary Fund by request of its Board of Directors. He was a member of the Consulting Group that advised Mike Moore, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), on the future perspectives for the world trade system, and he was until recently a member of the Consulting Group that advises Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director General of the WTO.

From January 2001 to July 2002, Professor Hamada served as the first President of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI, keizai Shakai sogo kenkyujocho), Cabinet Office of the Japanese Government. The ESRI engages in policy-oriented research and compiling the GDP statistics. Hamada was in a position to advise the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP KeizaiZaisei Shimonkaigi), a body created to promote the administrative reform (Kozo Kaikaku) chaired by the Prime Minister.

He is considered a co-originator of ‘Abenomics.’

He was awarded the imperial decoration, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star, which is given to those who have accumulated distinguished achievements for Japan, 2006.

Positions Held

Research Associate 1965-1969, University of Tokyo.

Associate Professor of Economics 1969-1980, University of Tokyo.
Taught: Monetary Theory and Policy, Introductory Economic International Trade, International Finance.

Professor of Economics 1981-1986, University of Tokyo.
Taught: Monetary Theory and Policy, Introductory Economic International Trade, International Finance.

Visiting Scholar, Department of Economics, MIT, 1971-1973.

Education

PhD Economics, Yale University

MA Economics, Yale University

MA Economics, University of Tokyo

BA Economics, University of Tokyo

LLB Law, University of Tokyo

Doctoral Dissertation

Economic Growth and Long-Term Capital Movement

Institutions

Ministry of Finance (MITI) of Japan

Economic Planning Agency of Japan

Yale University

University of Tokyo

Fields

Economics

Law

Topics

Game Theoretic Approach to International Policy Coordination

Microfoundations of International Capital Movements

A Positive Analysis of the Emergence of International Economic Order

Effects of a Free Trade Area

Law and Economics in Japan

Known For

Co-creator of ‘Abenomics’

Visiting Lecturer, London School of Economics, 1977-1978.
Taught: Introductory Economics (Session), Advanced Mathematical Economics (International Trade).

The Luce Visiting Professor of Economics, University of Chicago, Winter Quarter 1984.
Taught: The Japanese Economy.

Visiting Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1985-1986.
Taught: Economic Development of Japan, Macroeconomic Theory, Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics.

Visiting Professor of Economics, The Osaka Gas Chair on International Coordination, Osaka University, 1991-1992.
Taught: Macroeconomics and Open Macroeconomics.

One of the four evaluators of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) program commissioned by the IMF Board of Directors, 1997.

Senior Advisor, Economic Research Institute, Economic Planning Agency of the Japanese Government, 1998-2001.

Member: Advisory Group for Mike Moore, Director General, World Trade Organization, 2001-2002.

Member: Advisory Group for Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director General, World Trade Organization, 2003.

President, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 2001-2003.

Professor of Economics, Yale University, since July 1986, and currently Tuntex Professor of Economics since December 2005

Publications

Books

Ageing and the Labour Market in Japan: Problems and Policies. Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd. 2007.

The Future of the WTO: A Report by the Consultative Board of the Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi. WTO. 2005.

Dreams and Dilemmas: Economic Friction and Dispute Resolution in the Asia-Pacific. Seikei University Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, Japan. 2000.

External Evaluation of the ESAF: A Report by a Group of Independent Experts. International Monetary Fund. 1998.

Strategic Approaches to the International Economy: Selected Essays of Koichi Hamada. Edward Elgar Publishing, Ltd. 1996.

The Political Economy of International Monetary Interdependence. MIT Press. 1985.

Journal Articles

"Monetary and International Factors behind Japan's Lost Decade," (with Yasushi Okada), Journal of Japanese and International Economies, (forthcoming).

"On the Conditions that Preclude the Existence of the Lerner Paradox and the Metzler Paradox," (with Masahiro Endoh), Keio Economic Studies, Vol.42, No.1-2, 2005, pp.39-50.

"The Role of Preconceived Ideas in Macroeconomic Policy: Japan's Experiences in the Two Deflationary Period," (with Asahi Noguchi), International Economics and Economic Policy, Vol.2, 2005, pp.101-126.

"Policy Making in Deflationary Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Vol.55, No.3, September 2004, pp.221-239.

"On the Nature of the Heisei Recession," Keizai Bunseki (The Economic Analysis), No.169, ESRI, March 2003.

"Nonperforming Loans Versus Economic Recession," The Japanese Economy, Vol.30, No.1, January-February 2002, pp.8-21.

"The Economic Consequences of Pegging to the Dollar in a Multi-Currency World," Review of International Economics, Vol.10, Issue 1, February 2002, pp.16-25.

"Capital Flight, North-South Lending, and Stages of Economic Development," (with Masaya Sakuragawa), International Economic Review, Vol.42, No.1, February 2001, pp.1-24.

"Japan 1968: A Refraction Point During the Era of the Economic Miracle," Review of Asian and Pacific Studies, No.19, 2000, pp.1-20, @ Seikei University Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.

"On the Development of Rotating Credit Associations in Japan," (with Robert Dekle), Economic Development and Cultural Change, Vol.49, No.1, 2000, pp.77-90, University of Chicago Press.

"Regional Economic Integration and Article XXIV of the GATT," (with Junichi Goto), Review of International Economics, Vol.7, Issue 4, 1999, pp.555-570.

"The Incentive Structure of a 'Managed Market Economy': Can it Survive the Millennium?," American Economic Review, (Proceedings), Vol.88, No.2, 1998, pp.417-421.

"The Choice of International Monetary Regimes in a Context of Repeated Games," Open Economies Review, Vol.9, No.1, 1998, pp.417-446.

"Incentive Mechanisms Surrounding International Financial Institutions," Asian Development Review, Vol.16, No.1 1998, pp.126-150.

"Economic Integration and the Welfare of Those Who Are Left Behind: An Incentive-Theoretic Approach," (with Junichi Goto), Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Vol.12, No.1, March1998, pp.25-48.

"The Effect of Foreign Direct Investment on the Pattern of Trade: Is Investment a Substitute for Trade?," Review of Asian and Pacific Studies, No.14, 1997, pp.1-17.

"Behind the U.S./Japan Trade Conflict," The World Economy, Vol.18 Issue 2, 1995, pp.269-294, Ali M. El-Agraa, ed., Basil Blackwell Ltd..

"Product Liability Rules: A Consideration of Law and Economics in Japan," Japanese Economic Review, Vol. 46, No. 1, March 1995, The Presidential Lecture of the Japanese Association of Economics and Econometrics, 1994.

"International Trade and Investment Under Different Rates of Time Preference," (with Kyoji Fukao), Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Vol.8, pp.22-51, 1994. Also International Journal of Development Banking, Vol.14, No.2, July 1.

"Broadening the Tax Base: The Economics Behind It, " Asian Development Review, Vol.12, No.2, 1994, pp.53-90.

"On the International Capital Ownership Pattern at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century," (with Kazumasa Iwata), European Economic Review, Vol.33, Issue 5, 1989, pp.1055-1079. Reprinted International Journal of Development Banking, Vol.10, No.1, January 1992.

"L'integration monetaire en perspective historique," (with David Porteous), Revue d'economie financiere, No.22, Antomne 1992, pp. 77-92.

"Strategic Aspects of International Fiscal Interdependence," The Economic Studies Quarterly, Vol.37, No.2, June 1986, pp.165-180.

"Trends in Unemployment, Wages and Productivity: The Case of Japan," (with Yoshio Kurosaka), Economica, Vol.53, Issue 210 Supplement, 1986, pp.S275 -S296.

"Lawrence B. Krause and Sueo Sekiguchi, eds., Economic International in the Pacific Basin: (The brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., 1980) pp. xiv + 269," Journal of International Economics, Vol.17, issue 1-2, 1984, pp.194-196.

"International Short-Term Capital Flow and the Foreign Exchange Rate: Japan, 1973-1980," (with Takahiko Mutoh), Economic Studies Quarterly, Vol.34, No.2, pp.97-115, August 1984.

"National Income, Terms of Trade and Economic Welfare," (with Kazumasa Iwata), The Economic Journal, Vol.94, Issue 376, December 1984, pp.752-771.

"The Relationship Between Production and Unemployment in Japan: Okun's Law in Comparative Perspective," (with Yoshio Kurosaka), European Economic Review, Vol.25, No.1, June 1984.

"International Interest Differentials and the Volatility of Exchange Rate," (with Takahiko Mutoh), Keio Economic Studies, 1984, pp.71-94.

"Tax Policy in the Presence of Emigration," (with J. N. Bhagwati), Journal of Public Economics, Vol.18, pp.291-317, August 1982.

"The Law and Economics of Traffic Accidents in Japan," Japanese Economic Studies, A Journal of Translations, White Plains, NY 8, 1980, 3.

"Censored Income Distributions and the Measurement of Poverty," (with Noriyuki Takayama), Bulletin of International Statistic Institute, Vol. 47, No.1, April 1980, pp.617-630.

"The Call Market and the Money Supply Process in Japan," (with Kazumasa Iwata), Internationales Asienforum, Vol.11, No.3-4, November 1980, pp.337-356.

"Banking Behavior Under Constraints: Credit Rationing and Monetary Mechanisms in Japan," (with Hidekazu Eguchi), Japanese Economic Studies, Vol.6, No.2, Winter 1977-78, pp.3-41.

"Japan: Communication Problems of the Nouveau Riche," The World Economy, Vol.1, No.4, October 1978, pp.407-418.

"International Transmission of Stagflation Under Fixed and Flexible Exchange Rates," (with Hidekazu Eguchi), Journal of Political Economy, Vol.86, No.5, October 1978, pp.877-895.

"Random Walks and the Theory of the Optimal International Reserves," (with Kazuo Ueda), The Economic Journal, Vol.87, Issue 348, December 1977, pp.722-742.

"Liability Rules and Income Distribution in Product Liability," The American Economic Review, Vol.66, No.1, March 1976, pp.228-234.

"A Strategic Analysis of Monetary Interdependence," Journal of Political Economy, Vol.84, No.4, Part 1, August 1976, pp.677-700.

"Domestic Distortions, Imperfect Information and the Brain Drain," (with J.N. Bhagwati), Journal of Development Economics, Vol.2, No.2, 1975, pp.265-279.

"Efficiency, Equality, Income Taxation and the Brain Drain: A Second-Best Argument," Journal of Development Economics, Vol.2, No.3, pp.281-287, 1975.

"The Brain Drain, International Integration of Markets for Professionals and Unemployment: A Theoretical Analysis," (with J. N. Bhagwati), Journal of Development Economics, Vol.1, No.1, 1974, pp.19-42.

"Income Taxation and Educational Subsidy," Journal of Public Economics, Vol.3, October 1974, pp.145-158.

"An Economic Analysis of the Duty Free Zone," Journal of International Economics, Vol.4, August 1974, pp.225-241.

"A Simple Majority Rule on the Distribution of Income," Journal of Economic Theory, Vol.6, No.3, June 1973, pp.243-264.

"Income, Consumption and the Demand for Money," Economic Studies Quarterly, Vol.23, No.1, May 1972.

"An Application of Continuous-time Stochastic Control to a Problem of Dynamic Portfolio Choice," Economic Review, Vol.23, No.2, April 1972.

"Lifetime Equity and Dynamic Efficiency on the Balanced Growth Path," Journal of Public Economics, Vol.1, No.3, November 1972.

"A Multi-period Portfolio Choice and the Existence of Money," Economic Studies Quarterly, Vol.20, No.1, April 1969.

"Optimal Capital Accumulation by an Economy Facing an International Capital Market," Journal of Political Economy, Vol.77, No.4, Part 2, July/August 1969.

"Substitution and Complementarity in the Risky Asset Choice," (with Shoichi Royama), in D. Hester and J. Tobin ed., Risk Aversion and Portfolio Choice, Cowles Foundation Monograph 19, 1968.

"On the Optimal Transfer and Income Distribution in a Growing Economy," The Review of Economic Studies, Vol.34, Issue 3, No.99, June 1968, pp.295-299.

"Economic Growth and Long-Term International Capital Movements," Yale Economic Essays, Vol.6, No.1, Spring 1966.

"Strategic Aspects of Taxation of Foreign Investment Income," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.80, No.3, August 1966.

"On the Optimal Level of the Risky Foreign Investment," Economic Studies Quarterly, Vol.16, No.1, November 1965.

Professional Service & Memberships

Fellow of the Econometric Society and served as its council member from 1980 to 1985.

President of the Japanese Association of Economics and Econometrics (now the Japan Economic Association) from 1994 to 1995.

Founding President of the Japan Law and Economics Association in 2003 (now its honorary fellow).

Associate editor of many journals including Econometrica, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Development Economics and Journal of the Japanese and International Economies.

Awards

Koichi Hamada was a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, the Ford Dissertation Fellowship and the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector (IRIS) Fellowship. He was a recipient of Nikkei Tosho Bunka Prize (1967) for “Economic Growth and Capital Movements,” the Ekonomisuto prize (1980) for “Banking Behavior and Monetary Policy.” He was also awarded the Otto Eckstein Prize (1988) by the Eastern Economic Association for “The Impact of the General Theory in Japan,” recognized as the best article in the Eastern Economic Review for the year.

He was awarded the imperial decoration, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star, which is given to those who have accumulated distinguished achievements for Japan, 2006.