The Fondation France-Japon de l'EHESS (FFJ) and the Banque de France are pleased to announce the opening of the call for applications for the FFJ/Banque de France Fellowship on “Macroeconomics and Economic Policy: Which Lessons from the Japanese Experience?”.

This call marks the renewal of our fellowship for five years, in the wake of the successful first edition (2015-2019). This year, the theme of the fellowship is expanding beyond monetary policies to include fiscal and structural policy issues.

The deadline for applications is 5 January 2020. Applications are to be submitted by email to applications_ffj@ehess.fr.

The fellowship may last 5 up to 10 months, between 1 September 2020 and 31 July 2021, depending on the fellow’s availability.

Scientific Rationale

Japan's macroeconomic trajectory from the mid-1980s to the present day has appealed to a large number of researchers, beyond the circle of Japanese specialists. In addition to prediction errors concerning the latter, the main reason for this interest is the recognition of the possibility for other major OECD economies of learning from the Japanese experience.

The analysis of Japanese macroeconomics has in fact led to a renewal of macroeconomic theories, which in turn has prompted reflection on economic policies and their implementation. From this point of view, if the "Abenomics" have recently attracted the attention not only of researchers but also of economic policy makers and the general public, it is in fact all the economic policies implemented during this period that merit being analyzed and compared with European experiences in this field.

The purpose of the FFJ/Banque de France Fellowship is to analyze Japanese macroeconomic dynamics since the early 1980s and the policies implemented by the Bank of Japan and the Japanese government. We therefore encourage projects that focus on monetary policy, fiscal policy and structural policies, for example in the areas of the labour market, openness to trade and international finance. The political economy of the conditions for implementing these policies and the evaluation of public policies are also part of the objectives of this fellowship. Finally, emphasis may be placed on a comparative perspective with the European experience in this field.

Purpose of the Fellowship

The  core  objective  of  the  fellowships  of  the  Fondation  France-Japon (FFJ)  at  EHESS  is  to  lead  to  a  close collaboration between the fellow, FFJ, and its partner. The FFJ Fellowships enable the fellows to pursue their research  work,  according  to  the  research  project  they  presented  in  their  application  with  objectives specific to their stay in Paris (comparative analysis, access to French resources, etc.). They will  benefit  from  the  large  network  of  researchers  in  social  and  human  sciences,  as  well  as  the  international  and  interdisciplinary  environment  of  the  Parisian  academic  institutions.  Besides,  the  collaboration with strategic and research departments of the partner will be an excellent opportunity for them  to  access  a  network  of  extra-academic  experts.  The  fellows  will  be  hosted  at  EHESS  in  Paris  and  will share an office; they will benefit from administrative assistance, and have access to meeting rooms and libraries.