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Research Staff
ITO, Asei

Division | Department of Comparative Contemporary Economics |
---|---|
Research Fields | The Chinese Economy |
asei |
Teaching and Research Appointments
September 2022-
May 2023 |
Visiting Scholar, Harvard Yenching Institute |
April 2017 - | Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo |
April 2015 - March 2017 |
Lecturer, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo |
April 2012 - | Project Research Associate, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo |
Topics of Research
- 1Chinese innovation and upgrading of industriay in China
- 2Chinese outward investment and development assistance
- 3Chinese Political Economy
- 4Comparative studies on Asian and emerging economies
Selected Publications
- Ito, Asei, Jaehwan Lim, & Hongyong Zhang. “Remembering Li Keqiang: Policy Divergence in Zhongnanhai and Its Economic Consequences,” The China Quarterly, pp. 1–19, March 2025.
- Ito, Asei, Jaehwan Lim, & Hongyong Zhang. “Xi Jinping’s Important Speeches as Data,” Asia-Pacific Review, 31(2), pp. 13–49, October 2024.
- Lim, Jaehwan, Asei Ito, & Hongyong Zhang. “Uncovering Xi Jinping's Policy Agenda: Text As Data Approach,” The Developing Economies, 63(1), pp. 9–46, September 2024.
- Ito, Asei. “Import Substitution Digitalization Strategies? Examining China’s Protectionism “Myth”,” in Kobe University Monograph Series in Social Science Research, pp. 11–25, August 2024.
- Ito, Asei, Lim, Jaehwan, and Zhang, Hongyong. (2024) Xi Jinping’s Important Speeches as Data. Asia-Pacific Review, 31(2), 13-49.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13439006.2024.2398371 - “Uncovering Xi Jinping’s Policy Agenda: Text as Data Approach.” Lim, Jaehwan, Ito, Asei, and Zhang, Hongyong, The Developing Economies, (2024).
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/deve.12418 - Asei Ito, Jaehwan Lim, Hongyong Zhang, “Political Visits and Firm Value Evidence from central leaders’ local tours in China”, RIETI Discussion Paper Series, 23-E-050
- Jaehwan Lim, Asei Ito, Hongyong Zhang. “Policy Agenda and Trajectory of the Xi Jinping Administration: Textual evidence from 2012 to 2022”, RIETI Policy Discussion Paper Series, 23-P-008
- Asei Ito, Jaehwan Lim, Hongyong Zhang. “Remembering Li Keqiang: From divergence to convergence in Zhongnanhai”, Harvard-Yenching Institute Working Paper Series.
- “Catching the political leader's signal: Economic policy uncertainty and firm investment in China.” Ito, Asei, Jaehwan Lim, and Hongyong Zhang, China Economic Review, (2023): 102035.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X23001207 - “Digital China: Policy Initiatives, Progress, and Challenges”, in Xinxin Ma and Cheng Tang ed. Growth Mechanisms and Sustainable Development of the Chinese Economy: Comparison with Japanese Experiences, Springer, 2022.
- Cato, Susumu, et al. “Social media infodemics and social distancing under the COVID-19 pandemic: public good provisions under uncertainty.” Global Health Action 14.1 (2021): 1995958.
- Shoji, Masahiro, et al. “Prosociality and the uptake of COVID-19 contact tracing apps: survey analysis of intergenerational differences in Japan.” JMIR mHealth and uHealth 9.8 (2021): e29923.
- Cato, Susumu, et al. “The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 54 (2021): 102034.
- “Japan’s Economic Pragmatism: Cooperating and Competing with China,” Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),Strategic Japan 2021,Working Paper,April 5,2021.
- “The Asian Economy: Contemporary Issues and Challenges”, London and New York: Routledge (Goto, Kenta, Tamaki Endo, Asei Ito ed.), July 2020.
- “Bottom-up Industrialization in the People's Republic of China: A Case Study of Industries Producing Small Things in Zhejiang”, Kazuko Furuta and Linda Grove eds., Imitation, Counterfeiting and the Quality of Goods in Modern Asian History, pp.245-281, Springer, October 2017.
- “Multi-level and Multi-route Innovation Policies in China: A Programme Evaluation Based on Firm-level Data”,Millenial Asia, Vol 8, Issue 1,April 2017, pp.78-107 (Asei ITO, Zhuoran LI and Min WANG).
- Asei Ito, “The End of ‘Workshop of the World’?: New Challenges for China and the Global Manufacturing Equilibrium”, Newsletter of the Institute of Social Science, the University of Tokyo, 2013.
- Asei Ito, “Industrial Agglomeration and Dispersion in China: Evidence from Province- and City-Level Data in the 2000s”, paper presented at the Asia Pacific Economic Association, conference on “China and the World Economy”, 15-16th, March, 2013, at the University of Tokyo.
- Asei Ito, “Industrial Relocation from Coastal China: An Empirical Analysis on ‘the Domestic Flying Geese Pattern’”, Journal of Chinese Economic Studies, Vol.10, No.1, 2013(in Japanese).
- Asei Ito, “Growth and Expansion of Industrial Cluster in Pearl River Delta: A Case Study of Guzhen Lighting Industry”, Mita Journal of Economics, Vol.105, No.3, 2012(in Japanese).
- “Transformations of Industrial Clusters in Japan: Clustering and ‘Made in Japan’ ”, Guangdong Science and Technology, No.280, pp.51-60, 2012(in Chinese).
- “From a ‘Black Market’ to a ‘Pantheon of Miscellaneous Goods’: A Regional Development in Yiwu, China”, Hiroyuki Kato ed., Urbanization and Industrial Agglomerations in Yangtze Delta, Keiso Shobo, pp.152-177, 2012(in Japanese).
- “Agglomeration Economies with Heterogeneous firms in China: Evidence from Firm-Level Data in 2007” Journal of Social Science, Vol.63, No.3, pp.121-141, 2011.
Educational Activities
Graduate School of Economics, The University of Tokyo | World Economy (Autumn semester)
Chinese Economy (Autumn semester)
Area Study Workshop (Spring and Autumn semesters) |
Komaba campus, The University of Tokyo | All-University Independent Research Seminar, "Seminar on Contemporary China" (Spring semester) |
The Open University of Japan | Politics and Economy of Emerging Asia (Spring and Autumn semesters) |