Former Directors: Nobuyoshi YAMORI

The Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration (RIEB) has its origins in the Institute of Commerce established at Kobe High School of Commerce in 1919. The RIEB has the longest history and tradition among the research institutes established in national universities in social science. The RIEB has always been one of the top research institutes in Japan.

Compared to other research institutes, one of its important features is that it has researchers not only in economics but also in business administration and accounting. Also, the RIEB has recently expanded its research areas in response to the needs of the times, for example, by advancing research that integrates the humanities and sciences and increasing the number of faculty members researching computational social science.

The RIEB is very active in holding academic research meetings, but we have also been making efforts to disseminate our research results to the general public in recent years. For example, in October 2020, we held a symposium titled "Business Succession Support by Regional Financial Institutions and Credit Guarantee Associations: Current Status and Challenges in the Post-Corona Era" with speakers including the former Director-General of the Financial Services Agency, the head of the Financial Services Division of the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, and the chairman of a local Shinkin bank. About 400 people attended the symposium. In addition to Kobe University's organizations, we obtained support from external organizations such as the Hyogo Credit Guarantee Association, the Asia Pacific Institute of Research (APIR), and the Kinki Regional Finance Bureau, Ministry of Finance. In this way, the RIEB is actively engaged in collaboration with external organizations. While decreasing subsidies for operation from the government, we hope to strengthen the foundation for the RIEB research activities by enhancing external partnerships.

The source of the RIEB's competitiveness lies in attracting good researchers and having them conduct research to the best of their ability. Therefore, we would like to maintain and develop our faculty's competitiveness while paying attention to our faculty's diversity. In addition to full-time faculty members, we would like to enhance cooperation with outside researchers by inviting research fellows, part-time lecturers, and foreign researchers. Based on this strong researchers base, we intend to expand the traditional strengths of the RIEB, such as the promotion of advanced research, the development of research that integrates the humanities and sciences, and the maintenance of historical research materials.

We will continue to strive for the development of the RIEB as a center for research unique to Kobe University, aiming to achieve "harmony between science and practice," which is the philosophy of Kobe University.

April 1, 2021

Nobuyoshi Yamori, Director of the RIEB
(Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration)
Kobe University