Masahisa Fujita

About Masahisa Fujita

Masahisa Fujita (藤田 昌久, Fujita Masahisa; born 21 July 1943) is a Japanese economist who has studied regional science, urban economics, international trade, and spatial economy (new economic geography). He is a professor at Konan University and an adjunct professor at Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University. Fujita majored in urban planning as an undergraduate at Kyoto University. He studied regional science in University of Pennsylvania under Walter Isard and obtained a Ph.D. (in Regional Science) from University of Pennsylvania in 1972. He taught at University of Pennsylvania for about 20 years, and has been the faculty of Institute of Economic Research (KIER) Kyoto University since 1995, where he served as Director in 1999. He was the President of Institute of Developing Economies during 2003 to 2007, and proposed a basic concept of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia to JETRO and METI. In 2007, he became President and Chief Research Officer of the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry. Fujita is known as one of the pioneers of New Economic Geography, as well as Paul Krugman.