Research at AJRC

The goal of the Australia-Japan Research Centre's research agenda is to contribute to the core understanding and analysis of fundamental issues surrounding the relations between Australia, Japan and the region while at the same time addressing topics of more immediate policy interest.

The Australia-Japan Research Centre also supports the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research (EABER)

AJRC Research projects

New Projects

In March 2010, the AJRC hosted, with the support of the Toshiba International Foundation, is planning a one day conference on Financial Regulation and Structure in East Asia. The conference aims to focus on micro-regulatory issues that have come to prominence as a result of the global financial crisis and also the macro policy issues that are being debated under the rubric of macro-prudential policy. A key question for the region is the extent to which decisions made in the G20 will be appropriate for the region and whether the regional financial architecture will be able to respond and react appropriately. View the conference program [PDF 31KB]. View the project [PDF 13KB] details
In December 2009, Dr. Kazuki Onji and Professor Jenny Corbett received a research grant from the Zengin Foundation for Studies on Economics and Finance. Their project asks whether the government-assisted banks in Japan overstated the progress of required downsizing. Their study is unique in utilizing company-level data on regional banks and their subsidiaries, and is the first to statistically analyze employment levels of parent banks and those of non-bank subsidiaries separately.
The AJRC was a the main collaborator in a research grant from the Australia-Japan Foundation to the University of Western Australia to review modelling of the impact of changes in the Japanese economy on Australia, and to design a better model to show these connections.
Click here [PDF 13KB] for project details.
AJRC Executive Director, Jenny Corbett, has represented Australian Researchers in activities under the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) initiative.
Click here for project details.
The AJRC received a grant from the Australia-Japan Foundation in 2008 to set up a Distinguished Visiting Fellowship on Australia-Japan relations at the Australian National University. The first recipient of this fellowship is Professor Go Ito, Professor of International Relations from Meiji University in Japan, who is undertaking research on “The Rationale for Australian and Japanese cooperation in Asia Regionalism” between March and September 2009.
The AJRC received a grant from the Australia-Japan Foundation in 2008 to inaugurate an annual Crawford-Nishi Lecture on Australia-Japan relations to commemorate the contributions of Sir John Crawford and Ambassador Haruhiko Nishi to post-war Australia-Japan relations. The first lecture was given the Hon Stephen Smith MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs on 19 March 2009 on “Japan and Australia: A Vision for the Future”.
AJRC researchers in 2007 received a major three-year research grant to undertake further study of services trade reform.
Click here for project details.
In 2007 the AJRC received a grant from the Australia-Japan Foundation to establish for the first time in Australia an electronic research network of economists working on Japan-related topics. The network, the Australian Network of Research on the Japanese Economy (ARNJE) was launched in 2008 and organises workshops and panels on the Japanese economy at major research conferences around Australia. Access to the network is via a separate website: http://ajen.anu.edu.au/