Masami Imai

Masami Imai is Professor of Economics and East Asian Studies at Wesleyan University, where he serves as Director of the Fries Center for Global Studies. His academic career spans prestigious research institutions including the Tokyo Center for Economics Research (TECR), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and University of Tokyo's CIRJE.

His research expertise focuses on banking systems, financial crises, and East Asian economies, particularly Japan. Key interests include corporate innovation during crises, capital allocation efficiency, regulatory responses to banking failures, and regional economic development in post-conflict societies.

His scholarly output shows strong temporal trends: early work (2000s) centered on Japanese banking history and deposit insurance reforms, mid-career research (2010-2015) analyzed global financial crisis impacts and political economy of banking, while recent publications (2020-2024) examine zombie lending, legislative malapportionment effects, and ethnic minority contributions to economic development.

• Most significant paper published in 2012 in Journal of Financial Intermediation

Professor Imai teaches Introduction to Economic Theory, Macroeconomic Analysis, Money and Banking, Economy of Japan, and Quantitative Methods. His research fellowships demonstrate deep engagement with Japanese financial institutions and international economic policy analysis. Current work continues to bridge historical banking practices with contemporary crisis management frameworks.