Kyushu University [Kenichiro Ikeshita (Associate Professor) Faculty of Economics, Department of Economic Engineering]

Research interests:

1. Automation technology and economic growth.
2. Interaction between intellectual property rights and economic growth,
3. Macroeconomic dynamics of child labor and its policy implications,

Education:

1. Frontier Study in Macroeconomics (Post Doctoral course)
2. Economic Theory III (Post Doctoral course, for international students)
3. Topics in Economics (Post Doctoral course, for international students)
4. Advanced macroeconomics (Undergraduate)
5. Seminar (Undergraduate)

Research

Research Interests

Economic Analysis of Automation and Growth
keyword : Automation, techonological progress, economic growth
2019.04～2023.03.
Macroeconomics of Child Labor and Economic Development
keyword : Child labor, economic development, macroeconomics
2014.02～2021.03.
Intellectual property and economic growth
keyword : Intellectual property rights, economic growth, macroeconomic dynamics
2006.09～2021.03.

Current and Past Project

In Japan, where the population is declining, automation of production processes through digital innovation is expected to be a driver of economic growth. However, it is not clear how the progress of automation will affect economic growth and income distribution. In this research, I incorporate the "task-based approach" into macroeconomic analysis, to (1) clarify the economic mechanism of automation and (2) show how the progress of automatization affects economic growth and income distribution.

Academic Activities

Books

Show All Books >>

Kenichiro Ikeshita (editor), Daisuke Ikazaki (editor), Hideaki Uchida, Gu Jinghon, Hideo Noda, Tomoya Sakagami, Miki Matsuo, Tamotsu Nakamura, Globalization, Population, and Regional Growth in the Knowledge-Based Economy, Springer Singapore, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0885-8, New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives 43, 1-164., 2021.06, [URL], This book clarifies how globalization, progress in the knowledge-based economy, and demographic change affect regional economic growth, using the latest analytical methods for economic growth. In the last 30 years, Asian countries have realized remarkable economic growth and are expected to become major growth centers of the world economy in the future. On the other hand, many researchers and policy makers point out that the Asian economy will face numerous challenges to sustain its growth. Specifically, globalization, realization of the knowledge-based economy, and population decline will bring about major changes in the structure of the Asian economy.

This book provides the reader with the analytical framework to investigate how these structural changes affect regional economic growth. Moreover, the book covers topics such as foreign direct investment, quality of institutions, intergenerational conflict, education policies, and household fertility decision, all of which are comprehensively explained from the point of view of economic growth. Therefore, the scope of this volume is not only contemporary but also important for going beyond the usual regional economics and growth literature. This work is highly recommended to academic researchers and students who are interested in various aspects of regional economic growth..

Papers

Show All Papers >>

1.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Hideaki Uchida, Tamotsu Nakamura, Automation and Economic Growth in a Task-based Neoclassical Growth Model, Metroeconomica, https://doi.org/10.1111/meca.12427, 2023.04, [URL], This paper incorporates a task-based approach into the Solow growth model to analyze the effects of automation on economic growth. We find that if task producers smoothly adopt automation technology along the capital accumulation path, sustained growth is possible even without technological progress. This result is brought about by the fact that task automation makes the aggregate production function linear. In addition, we demonstrate that both the rental price of capital and the wage are constant on the growth path. In sum, while the interaction between task automation and capital accumulation can be a pathway for sustained growth in output, it leads to the cease of wage growth in the long run..
2.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Campaign Contributions and Innovation in a Fully-Endogenous Quality-Ladder Model, Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, 10.1007/s41685-018-0080-6, 2, 1, 139-157, 2018.04, This paper examines the effect of campaign contributions on patent policy, welfare, and innovation using a fully-endogenous quality-ladder model. Assuming two types of households, where one type holds patents and the other does not, we analyze political conflicts between the two groups. Our analysis shows campaign contributions increase the rate of innovation to an excessive level from the viewpoint of social welfare when the innovation-maximizing patent policy is sufficiently strong. This result is important because it implies that the rate of innovation distorted by campaign contributions can be too high from the viewpoint of social welfare..
3.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Tamotsu Nakamura, Keisike Osumi, A Phase Diagram Analysis on “The Environment and Directed Technical Change”, Economics Bulletin, 35, 2, 968-977, 2015.04.

Presentations

Show All Presentations >>

1.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Effects of Subsidies for Automation on Economic Growth and Factor Prices, PRSCO 2022: 27th Pacific Conference of the RSAI 2022, 2022.08, In recent years, while rapid progress in digital technology has made it easier to automate the production process, it has raised concerns that the machines may deprive workers of employment. However, it has not been fully studied how automation-oriented policies affect economic growth. In this paper, we examine the effect of task automation on economic growth and its policy implications by incorporating the task-based approach into the neoclassical growth model. We find that if the number of automated tasks is determined by the firms’ cost minimization behavior, the aggregate production function becomes asymptotically linear. As a result, a higher subsidy rate for automation raises the rate of return on machinery (capital) and generates perpetual economic growth. On the other hand, both the rental price of capital and the wage converge to their constant values along the equilibrium path. In addition, while an increase in the subsidy rate for automation raises the long-term rental price of capital, it does not affect the long-term wage rate..
2.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Hideaki Uchida, Tamotsu Nakamura, Automation and Economic Growth in a Task-based Neoclassical Growth Model, The 20th Annual SAET Conference, 2021.06.
3.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Are Anti-Child Labor Policies Really Effective? , 24th EBES Conference Bangkok, 2018.02.
4.	Kenichiro Ikeshita, Child Labor and Capital Accumulation in Developing Economies, Singapore Economic Review Conference 2015, 2015.08.

Membership in Academic Society

The Japan Section of Regional Science Association International
Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory
The Japan Society of International Economics
Kyushu Association of Economic Science
Japanese Economic Association
Japanese Association of Applied Economics

Educational

Educational Activities

1. Frontier Study in Macroeconomics I, II (Post Doctoral course)
2. Economic Theory III (Post Doctoral course)
3. Economic Development and Growth (Post Doctoral course, for students of International Graduate Program)
4. Topics in Economics (Post Doctoral course, for students of International Graduate Program)
5. Advanced macroeconomics (Undergraduate)
6. Seminar (Undergraduate)
7. Introductory Economics (Undergraduate, Kikan Education)

Unauthorized reprint of the contents of this database is prohibited.

https://kyushu-u.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/kenichiro-ikeshita Reseacher Profiling Tool Kyushu University Pure

https://kyushu-u.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/kenichiro-ikeshita
　Reseacher Profiling Tool　Kyushu University Pure