Introduction

This volume draws on the research results of a joint research project initiated and led by Hiroshi Ohta and his fellow scholars, many of whom constitute the authors of various chapters in the volume. In retrospect, one key feature that has shaped the defining characteristic of the project since its inception — as Hiroshi stressed by referring to the principle of comparative advantage — would be the beauty of being ‘different’. Just as international differences in technology, factor endowments, or tastes are what drives countries to engage in welfare-improving trade, the differences among researchers’ paradigms and methods are what potentially elevate and refine our understanding of how the global economy functions. Accordingly, as the table of contents of this book reveals, the chapters in this volume span a wide range of topics in international economics from multidimensional perspectives. At the same time, the volume aims at a fine balance between positive and normative analysis as well as between theoretical and empirical research.