[Event Report] HSI2025 – Hitotsubashi Summer Institute: Macroeconomic Policies / JER-HIAS-Kakenhi Joint Conference

On August 24 – 25, 2025, a research conference, HSI2025 –Hitotsubashi Summer Institute: Macroeconomic Policies / JER-HIAS-Kakenhi Joint Conference, was held. This conference was jointly organized by the Japan Economic Association (JEA); the GLECS research project titled “Macroeconomic Policies at the Time of Heightened Uncertainty under Globalization”; and the JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) project “Development of New Uncertainty Indicators and Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of Their Impact on Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy” (Principal Investigator: Toshiaki Watanabe, Project Number: 23H00048).

The conference was held in person under the theme of ” Macroeconomics and Japan’s Reality: Effects of Monetary and Fiscal Policies”. A total of 12 researchers presented their research and 97 participants engaged in discussions in research presentation sessions over 2 days.

Topics included:
(1) development of a new measure of functioning of the corporate bond market, (2) effects of the Bank of Japan (BOJ)’s quantitative easing policy on real estate lending, (3) effects of aging and advancement of cashless payments on the demand for cash, (4) proposal of a new guidepost for the BOJ’s upcoming quantitative tightening policy, (5) analysis on the possibility that the BOJ’s quantitative tightening might cause a liquidity crisis, (6) analysis of Japan’s Coincident Index using a Markov Switching Model with t-distribution and stochastic volatility, (7) Simulation of time paths of the Japanese interest rate under alternative formulation of the BOJ’s policy rule, (8) Estimation of the effects of the BOJ’s unconventional monetary policy using a new “narrative sign restrictions”, (9) analysis of tweets to examine changes in consumers’ attitude toward price increases, (10) estimation of the effects of the Japanese Government’s expansion of transfers not backed by increases in future tax revenue, (11) Re-evaluation of the Japanese Government’s primary fiscal surplus (or deficit) through appropriately assessing returns on assets held by the government, (12) study on the role of the Japanese Government Bonds as liquidity provider in a liquidity-scarce economy.

The conference commenced with opening remarks by Specially Appointed Professor Etsuro Shioji (HIAS), followed by presentations and discussions by the following researchers. (* indicates faculty members affiliated with our university.)

Presenters:
Mitsuhiro Osada (Bank of Japan), Professor Qing-Yuan Sui (Yokohama City University), Professor Hiroshi Fujiki (Chuo University), Professor Shigenori Shiratsuka (Keio University), Hiroshi Ugai (Japan Science and Technology Agency [JST]), Professor Toshiaki Watanabe (Graduate School of Social Data Science), Associate Professor Kohei Hasui (Aichi University), Professor Mototsugu Shintani (University of Tokyo), Professor Toshitaka Sekine (Graduate School of Economics / School of International and Public Policy), Professor Takeki Sunakawa (Graduate School of Economics)*, Professor Makoto Saito (Kokugakuin University), Professor Emeritus Masaya Sakuragawa (Keio University)

Discussants:
Professor Daisuke Miyakawa (Waseda University), Professor Yukihiro Yasuda (Graduate School of Business Administration), Professor Naoki Wakamori (Keio University), Professor Takeshi Osada (Saitama University), Professor Iichiro Uesugi (Institute of Economic Research), Professor Jouchi Nakajima (Institute of Economic Research), Associate Professor Taisuke Nakata (University of Tokyo), Professor Tomoo Inoue (Seikei University), Tsutomu Watanabe (Nowcast Inc.), Associate Professor Takuji Fueki (Graduate School of Economics / School of International and Public Policy), Professor Toshitaka Sekine (Graduate School of Economics / School of International and Public Policy), Specially Appointed Professor Etsuro Shioji

The conference concluded successfully with closing remarks by Specially Appointed Professor Shioji.

Please refer to the program at the following URL
https://glecs.hias.hit-u.ac.jp/en/event/hsi2025/#title1