Introduction

• Author: Kazuo Nishimura,Makoto Yano,Tomoya Mori,Marcus Berliant
• Date: 01 March 2017
• Published date: 01 March 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ijet.12114

doi: 10.1111/ijet.12114

Introduction

Marcus Berliant, Tomoya Mori, Kazuo Nishimura and Makoto Yano

Accepted 18 August 2016

This collection of papers is dedicated, with admiration and affection, to Masahisa Fujita, a leading

researcher of his generation.

Masa majored in civil engineering as an undergraduate and obtained his Bachelor’s degree from

Kyoto University in 1966. Then he obtained his PhD in regional science from the University of

Pennsylvania, under Tony E. Smith, in 1972.

He taught at the University of Pennsylvania for some 20 years, and then returned to Japan with

an appointment at the Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University (KIER) in 1995. Masa

served as the Director of the Institute of Economic Research at Kyoto University from 1999 to 2001,

the President of the Applied Regional Science Conference from 1999 to 2001, the President of the

Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO, from 2003 to 2007, and the President of the Japanese

Economic Association from 2009 to 2010. In 2007, he was invited to join the Research Institute of

Economy, Trade, and Industry and served as the President and Chief Research Officer until 2016.

Currently he is a Professor at Konan University.

For his distinguished contributions in urban and spatial economics, Masa was awarded the 1983

Erik Kempe Prize in Memory of Tord Palander, the 1998 Walter Isard Award in regional science,and

the 2002 Alonso Prize, jointly with Paul Krugman. He was selected to be a member of the Japan

Academy in 2010.

His book co-authored with Paul Krugman and Anthony J. Venables, The Spatial Economy, was

awarded the 2000 Nikkei Prize for Excellent Books in Economic Science. He is included in Who’s

Who in Economics (Edward Elgar Publishing).

Masa’s distinguished research career is marked by an impressive depth. He has published about

130 papers in top journals and written four books. In the early 1970s he worked on optimal allocations

in spatial systems, and wrote his first book, Spatial Development Planning (North- Holland, 1978).

Masa then developed the economic theory of location and land use for modern cities up to around

1990, the subject of Urban Economic Theory (Cambridge University Press, 1989). In the 1990s, he

began his seminal work on the new economic geography with Paul Krugman and AnthonyVenables,

which led to The Spatial Economy (MIT Press, 1999). His work on the economies of agglomeration,

explaining where and why cities emerge, is summarized in Economics of Agglomeration (Cambridge

University Press, 2002), with Jacques-François Thisse.

Around 2003, Masa started (with Marcus Berliant) entirely new work on knowledgecreation and

transfer in groups. This research has led to a number of seminal contributions.

Masa is not only an outstanding scholar but also an excellent teacher. He supervised 48 PhD

theses at the University of Pennsylvania (including Tomoya Mori’s) and at Kyoto University. Those

who know Masa have been touched by his modesty, kindness, generosity, and sense of humor.

On behalf of all of his students, co-authors and colleagues it is our pleasure to dedicate this IJET

special issue to Masa. We wish him continued success and the best of health and spirit.

International Journal of Economic Theory 13 (2017) 3 © IAET 3

International Journal of Economic Theory