Stanford University

Avni Jethwa

0
Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow, 2015-16
avni_jethwa.jpg MS

Avni Jethwa is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2015-16.  Jethwa has eight years of experience in handling pharmaceutical manufacturing & quality management systems and has been with Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., India since 2007.  Currently, Jethwa is a Manager in the Quality Assurance group and is accountable for quality assurance function handling in-process quality checks for the entire manufacturing process - drug substance & drug product, batch release, handling of deviations, out of specifications, investigations, corrective & preventative actions, change controls, technology transfer, process validation, cleaning validation, internal & external audits, vendor & contract testing laboratory audits, annual produce quality reviews, product stability studies, document & data control and supporting for regulatory filing.  Jethwa received her post graduate degree in microbiology from the University of Mysore, India in 2007.

Hide publication sections
Off
Date Label

Huang (Catherine) Huang

0
Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow, 2015-16
catherine_huang.jpg MA

Huang (Catherine) Huang is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2015-16. Huang is the Founder and Managing Director of Beijing Shanghe Shiji Investment Co. Ltd. and has over 13 years of experience in private equity investment, equity/fund portfolio management and investment banking business.  Previously, she worked as Vice President at JP Morgan Securities in HK, Division Chief of equity investment at China Reinsurance Group and Portfolio Manager at CITIC Fund.  Huang received her EMBA degree from Peking University, Master of Economics from Tsinghua University and Bachelors of Finance & Literature from Xiamen University in China.

Hide publication sections
Off
Date Label

Yuta Aikawa

0
Corporate Affiliate Visiting Fellow, 2015-16
yuta_aikawa.jpg MS

Yuta Aikawa is a corporate affiliate visiting fellow at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2015-16.  Prior to joining Shorenstein APARC, he served as deputy director for policy making and implementation at the Government of Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), where he was in charge of security export control, developing retail industry and consumer credit industry, and financial policy for small and medium companies.  Aikawa received his master's degree of science from the Graduate School of Science and Technology at Keio University in 2005.

Hide publication sections
Off
Date Label

Ballots, Bullets, and Bargains: American Foreign Policy and Presidential Elections

Paragraphs

Drawing on twenty-four years of experience in government, Michael H. Armacost explores how the contours of the U.S. presidential election system influence the content and conduct of American foreign policy. He examines how the nomination battle impels candidates to express deference to the foreign policy DNA of their party and may force an incumbent to make wholesale policy adjustments to fend off an intra-party challenge for the nomination. He describes the way reelection campaigns can prod a chief executive to fix long-neglected problems, kick intractable policy dilemmas down the road, settle for modest course corrections, or scapegoat others for policies gone awry.

Armacost begins his book with the quest for the presidential nomination and then moves through the general election campaign, the ten-week transition period between Election Day and Inauguration Day, and the early months of a new administration. He notes that campaigns rarely illuminate the tough foreign policy choices that the leader of the nation must make, and he offers rare insight into the challenge of aligning the roles of an outgoing incumbent (who performs official duties despite ebbing power) and the incoming successor (who has no official role but possesses a fresh political mandate). He pays particular attention to the pressure for new presidents to act boldly abroad in the early months of his tenure, even before a national security team is in place, decision-making procedures are set, or policy priorities are firmly established. He concludes with an appraisal of the virtues and liabilities of the system, including suggestions for modestly adjusting some of its features while preserving its distinct character.

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Books
Publication Date
Journal Publisher
Columbia University Press
Authors
Michael H. Armacost

Eikenberry joins AAAS commission on language education

News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs

Karl Eikenberry, a distinguished fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, will serve on the Commission on Language Learning at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). The new commission is part of a national effort to examine the state of American language education.

The commission will work with scholarly and professional organizations to gather research about the benefits of language instruction and to initiate a national conversation about language training and international education.

Eikenberry joins eight other commissioners, including: Martha Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages; Nicholas Dirks, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley; and Diane Wood, chief judge, of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The group is led by Paul LeClerc, director of Columbia University’s Global Center in Paris.

Eikenberry, who is also a member of the AAAS Commission on Humanities and Social Sciences, contributed to “The Heart of the Matter,” a 2013 report that aims to advance dialogue on the importance of humanities and social sciences for the future of the United States.

Hero Image
karl eikenberry headline
All News button
1

Shin and Moon: Japanese education's 'foreign problem'

Authors
Gi-Wook Shin
News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs

Japan has been actively pursuing internationalization of its higher education, and recruiting foreign students has been a major part of this endeavor. In 1983, Japan announced its plan to recruit 100,000 foreign students by the year 2000, and in 2008 instituted a plan to recruit 300,000 foreign students by 2020. Subsequent government-led projects such as the Global 30 (2009-2014) and the Top Global University (2014-2023) projects have also stipulated international student recruitment as a major requirement.

As a result, the number of foreign students in Japanese universities has increased significantly from 10,428 in 1983 to 139,185 in 2014. Likewise, foreign faculty numbers have grown from just 418 (0.8% of total faculty) in 1994 to 6,034 (6.8%) in 2014. Although the figures are still relatively low compared with those in Europe and North America, they bring a potentially powerful force for social change to a country marked by high ethnic homogeneity.

In particular, the influx of foreign students and faculty to Japanese universities creates more culturally diverse campuses, often cited as a desirable result of and a key motive for pursuing internationalization. In the U.S. and Europe, such changes have led to significant discursive and programmatic efforts to create a culture of respect for diversity and inclusion. For example, Europe has, despite its critics, consistently articulated the value of "interculturality," diversity, and respect for cultural differences as a broader discourse for European higher education.

However, this is not the case with Japan and most other Asian nations. One major reason is that Japanese universities primarily attract foreign students as a means to particular ends, such as enhancing university prestige, creating "education hubs," filling the gap in the declining college student population and improving international higher education rankings. As a result, Japanese campuses have become much more diverse than in the past. However, appreciation of the intrinsic educational value of a culturally diverse student and faculty body has not been embraced.

Our study shows a noticeable disjuncture between structural, educational and interpersonal levels of diversity. That is, Japanese universities have accepted more and more students of varying racial and ethnic backgrounds (structural diversity), but the curriculum still offers limited opportunities for students to think more deeply about assumptions concerning race, ethnicity and other individual/group differences (educational diversity).

In particular, our interviews with more than 50 students at top Japanese institutions, including the University of Tokyo, Waseda University and Kyushu University, reveal low levels of cross-cultural interaction between Japanese and foreign students (interpersonal diversity). Foreign students often report that Japanese students are very friendly and polite to them but nonetheless find it very difficult to become friends with them. One male undergraduate student from Nepal we interviewed said, "Japanese students are very nice. If I need help finding a building on campus, for example, I can just stop any Japanese student and they will be very polite and try to help me." Another student from Sri Lanka agreed, saying, "Everybody is very polite. I mean, sometimes they are overwhelmingly polite."
 

However, despite the politeness of the Japanese, many of the respondents indicated that making friends with Japanese students is difficult, with some pointing this out to be "the hardest part about being in Japan." One foreign student seemed puzzled: "Making real friends is hard. But I don't know why." One South Korean student we interviewed provided a clue: "People here are very individualistic and very independent, I think. In my laboratory, I will be the one who will approach my lab mates, especially the Japanese. They are very helpful but I have to be the one who starts the conversation."

The Japanese government and universities have worked closely to attract foreign students but due to the lack of interpersonal interaction between Japanese and foreign students, Japan is missing out on crucial opportunities in its higher education internationalization efforts.

First, international students gain many opportunities to interact with each other and learn intercultural skills for global citizenship while Japanese students much less so. As one foreign student said, "It's a very diverse environment because we all come from different countries. We can communicate different ways of thinking and share different ideas." Yet, most Japanese students are hesitant to interact with foreign students, missing the chance to learn intercultural skills. As the number of young Japanese going abroad to study has been on the decline in recent years (82,945 in 2004 to 60,138 in 2012), the contribution of foreign students to global education in Japanese colleges will be all the more important.

Second, diversity is instrumental in promoting innovation, and Japan should take advantage of the diversity that foreign students bring to its society. Much research demonstrates the positive effects of diversity on various academic and social outcomes (ability to form out-group friendship networks, increased cultural awareness, acquiring global citizenship skills, improving the campus climate, innovation, etc.). Facilitating diversity and recognizing their long-term effects for innovation and development should be a major goal of higher education in Japan.

Finally, foreign students can be valuable social capital for Japan, especially playing the role of transnational bridges between Japan and their home countries. Many come to Japan to learn about Japanese society and economy, with plans to become a bridge between Japan and their home countries after graduation. However, due to the lack of interpersonal interaction with Japanese students, foreign students often end up interacting primarily among themselves. Thus, they are also likely to bridge among themselves, rather than with Japanese, and that is a loss, given that Japan has invested so much in attracting foreign students.

Japan wants to make its top universities "super global," but they should first realize that this requires more than simply recruiting foreigners. What is most urgent is producing "global citizens" with inter-cultural skills and that can be achieved through the creation of a campus environment and culture that appreciates and respects diversity. It should also better appreciate the value of foreign students as transnational bridges with Japan.

To achieve such goals, Japanese universities need to establish institutional frameworks or programs to promote interaction between Japanese and foreign students. For example, they should offer more courses that both Japanese and foreign students can take together. Rather than just focusing on teaching Japanese languages and cultures to foreign students, Japanese students should be encouraged to take more courses in English and also those on other cultures and societies, ideally together with foreign students. These courses can instill values of cultural diversity in higher education in Japan. Japanese universities also need to ensure that structural segregation, either between programs, courses, dormitories and campuses, isn't an obstacle for promoting greater interaction between foreign and local students.

Our focus group interviews with Japanese students show that foreign and Japanese students misunderstand each other to a great extent. Foreign students are disappointed that not many Japanese are willing to approach them, but Japanese students are afraid to inconvenience their foreign visitors with their "poor" English. Foreign students are tired from guessing what their Japanese counterparts really feel and think, or their honne, but Japanese students think it is impolite to be too frank and direct even with other Japanese, let alone towards foreign students. To reduce these and other misgivings and gaps in cultural understanding, Japanese universities need to put in place more cross-cultural programs and opportunities for both sides to come into natural contact.

In short, internationalization efforts by Japanese universities should not stop at recruiting foreigners to their campuses. Rather, fostering a tolerant, inclusive university culture where foreigners are considered full, valued members should be considered an important step toward making Japanese universities truly international.

Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin and Yonsei University professor Rennie J. Moon lead the research project, Diversity and Tolerance in Korea and Asia. This Nikkei Asian Review article was originally carried on July 16 and reposted with permission.

Hero Image
rennie 2
Japanese university students are interviewed by Rennie Moon (front), a lead researcher on cultural diversity in Asian higher education.
Rennie Moon
All News button
1

Groundbreaking Stanford economist Masahiko Aoki dies at 77

Authors
News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/july/masahiko-aoki-obituary-071715.h…

 

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Hoshi noted, "Masa was the first scholar to apply rigorous theoretical tools in modern economics to study of the Japanese economy." This led Aoki to develop, along with his Stanford colleagues, the framework behind comparative institutional analysis, which can be applied to any economic system, he added.

For Hoshi, Aoki was the "biggest reason why I decided to focus on the study of the Japanese economy in my career almost 30 years ago, and why I moved to Stanford a couple of years ago to be the director of the Japan Program at Asia-Pacific Research Center."

Aoki was the inaugural director of the Japanese Studies Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) when it was re-established in 2011.

John Shoven, the director of the Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research, said Aoki was both an accomplished scholar and institution builder.

"He is widely respected all over the world, and was able to span the worlds of economic theory and applied economic policy. We have lost both a friend and one of the world's leading economists," Shoven said.

Aoki's passing represents "a loss to economics, to Stanford and to me personally," said Stanford economist Kenneth J. Arrow, 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.

"His most important contributions were to the analysis and understanding of organizational forms in economic life. Aoki particularly studied the contrasting forms of economic organization in the United States and Japanese economies. His work was informed by a deep understanding of economic theory," said Arrow, the Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, emeritus.

Leadership roles

In his 2001 work, Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis, Aoki developed a new approach to analyze how institutions evolve, why institutional structures are diverse across economies, and what factors lead to institutional change or inflexibility.

Aoki's most recent book Corporations in Evolving Diversity: Cognition, Governance, and Institutions, was published in 2010.

Aoki was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in 1938. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with bachelor's and master's degrees in economics, in 1962 and 1964, respectively, and a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1967. In addition to his Stanford career, he held visiting positions at academic institutions in China, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Aoki was president of the International Economic Association from 2008 to 2011, and served as president of the Japanese Economic Association. He was awarded the Japan Academy Prize in 1990 and the sixth International Schumpeter Prize in 1998.

He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, and also founded the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Virtual Center for Advanced Studies in Institution at the Tokyo Foundation. He was involved in the establishment of the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance at Tsinghua University.

Aoki is survived by his wife, Reiko, of Stanford, and two daughters, Maki, of Boston, and Kyoko, and granddaughter Yuma, of the San Francisco Bay Area.

- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/july/masahiko-aoki-obituary-071715.h…

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Hoshi noted, "Masa was the first scholar to apply rigorous theoretical tools in modern economics to study of the Japanese economy." This led Aoki to develop, along with his Stanford colleagues, the framework behind comparative institutional analysis, which can be applied to any economic system, he added.

For Hoshi, Aoki was the "biggest reason why I decided to focus on the study of the Japanese economy in my career almost 30 years ago, and why I moved to Stanford a couple of years ago to be the director of the Japan Program at Asia-Pacific Research Center."

Aoki was the inaugural director of the Japanese Studies Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) when it was re-established in 2011.

John Shoven, the director of the Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research, said Aoki was both an accomplished scholar and institution builder.

"He is widely respected all over the world, and was able to span the worlds of economic theory and applied economic policy. We have lost both a friend and one of the world's leading economists," Shoven said.

Aoki's passing represents "a loss to economics, to Stanford and to me personally," said Stanford economist Kenneth J. Arrow, 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.

"His most important contributions were to the analysis and understanding of organizational forms in economic life. Aoki particularly studied the contrasting forms of economic organization in the United States and Japanese economies. His work was informed by a deep understanding of economic theory," said Arrow, the Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, emeritus.

Leadership roles

In his 2001 work, Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis, Aoki developed a new approach to analyze how institutions evolve, why institutional structures are diverse across economies, and what factors lead to institutional change or inflexibility.

Aoki's most recent book Corporations in Evolving Diversity: Cognition, Governance, and Institutions, was published in 2010.

Aoki was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in 1938. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with bachelor's and master's degrees in economics, in 1962 and 1964, respectively, and a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1967. In addition to his Stanford career, he held visiting positions at academic institutions in China, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Aoki was president of the International Economic Association from 2008 to 2011, and served as president of the Japanese Economic Association. He was awarded the Japan Academy Prize in 1990 and the sixth International Schumpeter Prize in 1998.

He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, and also founded the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Virtual Center for Advanced Studies in Institution at the Tokyo Foundation. He was involved in the establishment of the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance at Tsinghua University.

Aoki is survived by his wife, Reiko, of Stanford, and two daughters, Maki, of Boston, and Kyoko, and granddaughter Yuma, of the San Francisco Bay Area.

- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/july/masahiko-aoki-obituary-071715.h…

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Hoshi noted, "Masa was the first scholar to apply rigorous theoretical tools in modern economics to study of the Japanese economy." This led Aoki to develop, along with his Stanford colleagues, the framework behind comparative institutional analysis, which can be applied to any economic system, he added.

For Hoshi, Aoki was the "biggest reason why I decided to focus on the study of the Japanese economy in my career almost 30 years ago, and why I moved to Stanford a couple of years ago to be the director of the Japan Program at Asia-Pacific Research Center."

Aoki was the inaugural director of the Japanese Studies Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) when it was re-established in 2011.

John Shoven, the director of the Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research, said Aoki was both an accomplished scholar and institution builder.

"He is widely respected all over the world, and was able to span the worlds of economic theory and applied economic policy. We have lost both a friend and one of the world's leading economists," Shoven said.

Aoki's passing represents "a loss to economics, to Stanford and to me personally," said Stanford economist Kenneth J. Arrow, 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.

"His most important contributions were to the analysis and understanding of organizational forms in economic life. Aoki particularly studied the contrasting forms of economic organization in the United States and Japanese economies. His work was informed by a deep understanding of economic theory," said Arrow, the Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, emeritus.

Leadership roles

In his 2001 work, Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis, Aoki developed a new approach to analyze how institutions evolve, why institutional structures are diverse across economies, and what factors lead to institutional change or inflexibility.

Aoki's most recent book Corporations in Evolving Diversity: Cognition, Governance, and Institutions, was published in 2010.

Aoki was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in 1938. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with bachelor's and master's degrees in economics, in 1962 and 1964, respectively, and a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1967. In addition to his Stanford career, he held visiting positions at academic institutions in China, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Aoki was president of the International Economic Association from 2008 to 2011, and served as president of the Japanese Economic Association. He was awarded the Japan Academy Prize in 1990 and the sixth International Schumpeter Prize in 1998.

He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, and also founded the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Virtual Center for Advanced Studies in Institution at the Tokyo Foundation. He was involved in the establishment of the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance at Tsinghua University.

Aoki is survived by his wife, Reiko, of Stanford, and two daughters, Maki, of Boston, and Kyoko, and granddaughter Yuma, of the San Francisco Bay Area.

- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/july/masahiko-aoki-obituary-071715.h…

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/july/masahiko-aoki-obituary-071715.h…

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

- See more at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2015/july/masahiko-aoki-obituary-071715.h…

Masahiko Aoki, a Stanford economist who forged new ways of thinking about organizations, institutions and East Asian economies, died in Palo Alto on July 15. He was 77, and recently had been hospitalized for lung disease.

Aoki was a founder of comparative institutional analysis, which explores issues, perspectives and models of institutions within the economy. He studied economic systems, corporate governance and East Asian economies, and developed the "theory of the firm" to compare organizational structures in the corporate world.

Aoki was the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Professor of Japanese Studies and Professor of Economics, emeritus, and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He came to Stanford in 1967 as an assistant professor, and also had appointments at Harvard University and at Kyoto University in Japan. Aoki retired to emeritus status at Stanford in 2005.

Scholar, institution builder

Aoki's colleague, Stanford economist Takeo Hoshi, described him as a prolific and dedicated scholar. "Even at the hospital, he worked on revising his most recent paper that examines institutional development in China and Japan from the late 19th century to the early 20th century," said Hoshi, the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi senior fellow at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Hoshi noted, "Masa was the first scholar to apply rigorous theoretical tools in modern economics to study of the Japanese economy." This led Aoki to develop, along with his Stanford colleagues, the framework behind comparative institutional analysis, which can be applied to any economic system, he added.

For Hoshi, Aoki was the "biggest reason why I decided to focus on the study of the Japanese economy in my career almost 30 years ago, and why I moved to Stanford a couple of years ago to be the director of the Japan Program at Asia-Pacific Research Center."

Aoki was the inaugural director of the Japanese Studies Program at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) when it was re-established in 2011.

John Shoven, the director of the Stanford Institute for Economic and Policy Research, said Aoki was both an accomplished scholar and institution builder.

"He is widely respected all over the world, and was able to span the worlds of economic theory and applied economic policy. We have lost both a friend and one of the world's leading economists," Shoven said.

Aoki's passing represents "a loss to economics, to Stanford and to me personally," said Stanford economist Kenneth J. Arrow, 1972 winner of the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.

"His most important contributions were to the analysis and understanding of organizational forms in economic life. Aoki particularly studied the contrasting forms of economic organization in the United States and Japanese economies. His work was informed by a deep understanding of economic theory," said Arrow, the Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, emeritus.

Leadership roles

In his 2001 work, Toward a Comparative Institutional Analysis, Aoki developed a new approach to analyze how institutions evolve, why institutional structures are diverse across economies, and what factors lead to institutional change or inflexibility.

Aoki's most recent book Corporations in Evolving Diversity: Cognition, Governance, and Institutions, was published in 2010.

Aoki was born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, in 1938. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with bachelor's and master's degrees in economics, in 1962 and 1964, respectively, and a doctoral degree in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1967. In addition to his Stanford career, he held visiting positions at academic institutions in China, Germany, Japan, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Aoki was president of the International Economic Association from 2008 to 2011, and served as president of the Japanese Economic Association. He was awarded the Japan Academy Prize in 1990 and the sixth International Schumpeter Prize in 1998.

He was the founding editor of the Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, and also founded the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Virtual Center for Advanced Studies in Institution at the Tokyo Foundation. He was involved in the establishment of the Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance at Tsinghua University.

Aoki is survived by his wife, Reiko, of Stanford, and two daughters, Maki, of Boston, and Kyoko, and granddaughter Yuma, of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Clifton Parker is a writer for the Stanford News Service.

Hero Image
masa aoki Rod Searcey
All News button
1

"Crossing Heaven's Border" reviewed in "The Washington Post"

News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs

The Washington Post's Anna Fifield reviewed Crossing Heaven's Border (Shorenstein APARC, 2015), a book by author and journalist Hark Joon Lee. The book details the challenges facing North Korean defectors -- their perilous escapes, the repressive regime that they seek to flee from, and for some, what life looks like on the other side.

"Lee’s book is compelling because it offers a fresh perspective on the puzzle that is North Korea. He writes about the challenges he faced in reporting on this story and the ethical questions he encountered, and the toll it took on him as a person," Fifield writes.

Sensationalist stories about North Korea often swirl in news headlines, but Lee chronicles their hardships as a firsthand witness who embedded with defectors from 2007 to 2011. 

Lee, reporting for the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, initially published the stories as articles, and later as a documentary on the Public Broadcasting Service in 2009. Lee's account focuses on the lives of ordinary North Koreans.

"He writes about the tenderness he sees between a middle-aged couple from different social backgrounds who fled so they could be together; Soo-ryun, who had a difficult escape but found love and had a baby, only to be struck down by stomach cancer; pretty Young-mi, who dreamed of going to the United States but then found she couldn’t even understand the English that South Koreans use," Fifield writes.

The review and a Q&A with Lee is available on the Washington Post website.

Hero Image
ch19 kimyoungmi looking from china to dprk
Kim Young Mi looks from China over to North Korea.
Chosun Ilbo
All News button
1

Sociologist named incoming Koret Fellow

News Type
News
Date
Paragraphs

Joon Nak Choi will be the 2015-16 Koret Fellow in the Korea Program at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), effective Jan. 1, 2016.

A sociologist by training, Choi is an assistant professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research and teaching areas include economic development, social networks, organizational theory, and global and transnational sociology, within the Korean context.

Choi, a Stanford graduate, has worked jointly with Stanford professor Gi-Wook Shin to analyze the transnational bridges linking Asia and the United States. The research project explores how economic development links to foreign skilled workers and diaspora communities.

Most recently, Choi coauthored Global Talent: Skilled Labor as Social Capital in Korea with Shin, who is also the director of the Korea Program. From 2010-11, Choi developed the manuscript while he was a postdoctoral fellow at Shorenstein APARC.

Mark Granovetter, a professor and chair of Stanford’s sociology department, praised Choi for his work in academia.

“Joon Nak’s dissertation on social influences on hedge fund managers’ success broke important ground in our understanding of financial markets. His recent book Global Talent sheds critical new light on the challenges of Korea and other economies facing high-level labor shortages, and the potential of foreign workers to meet them. As the 2015-16 Koret Fellow, he will bring his considerable talents to bear on the study of Korean society,” Granovetter said.

During his fellowship, Choi will study the challenges of diversity in South Korea and teach a class for Stanford students. Choi’s research will buttress efforts to understand the shifting social and economic patterns in Korea, a now democratic nation seeking to join the ranks of the world’s most advanced countries.

Supported by the Koret Foundation, the fellowship brings leading professionals to Stanford to conduct research on contemporary Korean affairs with the broad aim of strengthening ties between the United States and Korea. The fellowship has expanded its focus to include social, cultural and educational issues in Korea, and aims to identify young promising scholars working on these areas.

“It will be my pleasure and honor to spend the next year at Shorenstein APARC, and have the opportunity to engage in the vibrant research community there," Choi said.

Choi holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, international relations and urban studies from Brown University, and a master’s degree and doctorate in sociology from Stanford University.

Hero Image
joon nak choi Rod Searcey
All News button
1

Anti-Americanism in Democratizing South Korea

Paragraphs
anti americanism cover

Americans think of South Korea as one of the most pro-American of countries, but in fact many Koreans hold harsh and conspiratorial views of the United States. If not, why did a single U.S. military traffic accident in 2002 cause hundreds of thousands of Koreans to take to the streets for weeks, shredding and burning American flags, cursing the United States, and harassing Americans? Why, too, the death threats against American athlete Apolo Ohno and massive cyberattacks against the United States for a sports call made at the Utah Winter Olympics by an Australian referee? 

These are just two of the incidents detailed in David Straub’s book, the story of an explosion of anti-Americanism in South Korea from 1999 to 2002. Straub, a Korean-speaking senior American diplomat in Seoul at the time, reviews the complicated history of the United States’ relationship with Korea and offers case studies of Korean anti-American incidents during the period that make clear why the outburst occurred, how close it came to undermining the United States’ alliance with Korea, and whether it could happen again.   

Anti-Americanism in Democratizing South Korea is recommended reading for officials, military personnel, scholars, students, and business people interested in anti-Americanism, U.S.-Korean relations, and U.S. foreign policy and military alliances.

David Straub has been associate director of the Korea Program at Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center since 2008, following a thirty-year diplomatic career focused on U.S. relations with Korea and Japan.

Desk, examination, or review copies can be requested through Stanford University Press.

All Publications button
1
Publication Type
Books
Publication Date
Authors
David Straub
Book Publisher
Shorenstein APARC
Book Publisher External URL
Subscribe to Asia-Pacific