Charles Horioka facts for kids

Charles Yuji Horioka (born September 7, 1956) is a famous Japanese American economist. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Today, he lives and works in Japan.

An economist is someone who studies how people and countries make choices about money, resources, and goods. They look at things like saving, spending, and investing.

Professor Horioka earned his university degrees, including his Ph.D., from Harvard University. He is now a professor at Kobe University in Japan. He also works at the Asian Growth Research Institute and is a professor emeritus at Osaka University. Before this, he taught at other well-known universities like Stanford University, Columbia University, and Kyoto University.

What is the Feldstein–Horioka Puzzle?

One of Professor Horioka's most important discoveries is called the Feldstein–Horioka puzzle. He found this puzzle with another economist, Martin Feldstein, in 1980.

They noticed something interesting when they looked at how countries save money and how much they invest. You might think that if a country saves a lot, it would invest that money anywhere in the world. But they found that countries tend to invest most of their savings right at home. This was a surprise to many economists, and it became a big mystery or "puzzle" in the world of international finance.

Their article about this puzzle is one of the most referenced papers in economics. It means many other economists have read and used their work.

What Does Professor Horioka Study?

Professor Horioka specializes in several areas of economics. He looks at how big economies work (macroeconomics). He also studies how families and households make financial decisions.

He has written many articles about how people save money, spend it, and even how they leave money to their children. He has studied these behaviors in Japan, the United States, China, India, Korea, and other parts of Asia.

Awards and Recognition

In 2001, Charles Yuji Horioka received the Nakahara Prize. This is a very important award in Japan for economists. It's given to the best Japanese economist who is 45 years old or younger. It's like a major award for young, talented economists.

His work is highly respected. He is considered one of the top economists living in Japan. Many other researchers have cited his work, showing how influential his ideas are in the field of economics.