Takatoshi Ito, Professor, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University (since 2015) and Senior Professor (in summer), National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (since 2016), has taught extensively both in the United States and Japan since finishing his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University in 1979. He taught at the University of Minnesota (1979-1988), Hitotsubashi University (1988-2002), and the University of Tokyo (2004-2014). He held visiting professor positions at Harvard University, Stanford University, Columbia Business School, and University of Malaya. He has distinguished academic appointments such as President of the Japanese Economic Association in 2004; Fellow of the Econometric Society; Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Ito served as Senior Advisor in the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund, 1994-97 and as Deputy Vice Minister for International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance of Japan, 1999-2001, and a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, 2006-08. He is an author of many books including The Japanese Economy, 2nd Edition, MIT Press, 2020, and 73 refereed journal papers. He frequently contributes op-ed columns. He was awarded by the Government of Japan the National Medal with Purple Ribbon in June 2011 for his excellent academic achievement.

I am looking forward to collaborate with researchers in WRHI to carry out research that requires both physics and economics.
(1) I have done research on the foreign exchange market and the stock market using high-frequency data. How bid and ask quotes are made by market participants impacts on the price dynamics and deal volumes. I would like to examine market efficiency and stability, which are important for the economic system.
(2) The balance between preventing spread of COVID-19 infection and reopening the economy is most important topic this year. A standard model for spread of infection and recovery is the SIR model. The economic side of research needs some model of how consumption and investment behaviors are affected by COVID-19.I would like to pursue a collaborative research on the SIR-economic model.