Morimitsu Kurino - Appointed in AY2018
Participant Profile
Morimitsu Kurino
Market DesignGraduated from the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1997. Received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Economics, University of Pittsburgh in 2009. After serving as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Economics, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics, Maastricht University, a researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, and an assistant and associate professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems at the University of Tsukuba, he has held his current position since 2018. *Profile and position are as of the time of the interview.
Morimitsu Kurino
Market DesignGraduated from the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1997. Received his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Economics, University of Pittsburgh in 2009. After serving as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Economics, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics, Maastricht University, a researcher at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, and an assistant and associate professor in the Faculty of Engineering, Information and Systems at the University of Tsukuba, he has held his current position since 2018. *Profile and position are as of the time of the interview.
Designing Socio-Economic Systems by Putting Economic Theory into Practice
My Research Theme and How I Encountered It
My field is market design, a branch of microeconomics, which takes an engineering-like approach to economics. I have a strong engineering background, having studied civil engineering from my undergraduate years until the second year of my doctorate. After switching to economics, I intended to study pure economic theory, but I was lost and unsure of what to do. When I entered the Doctoral Programs at the University of Pittsburgh, there were few researchers in market design, but I was fortunate to meet Utku Unver, who would become my academic advisor, and I learned about market design. I couldn't get the engineering approach I thought I had abandoned out of my head. When I encountered market design, which uses such an approach, a path suddenly opened up for me as a researcher.
The Appeal and Interest of My Research Theme
The markets that market design deals with are places where those who desire something and those who want to provide it meet. The scope is very broad and includes worlds without prices. This includes university admission systems and organ transplants, which cannot be resolved with money. Microeconomic theory is highly theoretical and at first glance may seem like armchair theorizing. However, I believe it is a technology for designing institutions. If you observe actual markets closely, you'll find that some function well, while others do not. Markets that are functioning and those that are dysfunctional often have much in common. When designing a market, we consider what kind of system would be fair, efficient, and good in terms of incentives, taking into account various possibilities and realistic constraints. I think this is what leads to the technology for designing better systems.
A Message to Students
I think it's important to think for yourself. When you do homework, work on report assignments, or read newspaper articles, I'm sure various questions will arise. At such times, instead of reading other books, I want you to first think for yourself, mobilizing all the knowledge you have. I believe this process is what builds a person's individuality.
(Interview conducted in December 2018)