Affiliated Institutions
Economics Library
The libraries that general students can use at Nagoya University include the Central Library and department libraries.
The Central Library currently has a collection of some 1 million volumes that can be freely used. The library hours are from 8:45 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weekdays, and 8:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekends and holidays. The Central Library is used by a great number of students and researchers. In addition, the School of Economics library is one of the best departmental libraries-the specialty libraries in each department-at Nagoya University in terms of the quality and quantity of the reading material as well as reading environment.
Following is a description of some of the characteristics of that collection.
First is its wide selection of journals. Currently there are 800 different Japanese journals and 500 international journals in economics and peripheral fields. The library also receives a large number discussion papers, which are a source of newer information than journals. The library is also actively introducing electronic journals.
Next, economic statistics reference materials, government publications, and corporate reference materials are kept in a specialty collection at the International Economic Policy Research Center, which carried on a tradition as an industrial survey office from the Nagoya Secondary School of Commerce. This collection is unsurpassed in the Chubu Region.
Another characteristic of the School of Economics library is its collection of publications from international organizations such as the EU, OECD, and IMF, as well as publications of the United States and other foreign governments. With regard to the EU, the School of Economics library has been designated an EU reference center since 1973, when the United Kingdom and other countries joined the EU. The library receives nearly all of their major publications.
The library is not limited to such recent materials, however. Its collection also includes many volumes on traditional economics and classic works of social thought. The library’s rare volumes room contains books published before 1850, and leather-bound spines line the shelves. Seeing first editions of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, and other major works that form the foundation of economics history or have affected world history, gives us a feeling of the atmosphere at the time these works were published.
History collections include the English Revolution Collection (including source material from the 17th and 18th centuries, research works, 310 books, and 28 reels of microfilm related to the English Revolution), the Ogawa Collection (330 volumes on British economics, particularly the mercantilists, classicists, Ricardians, and socialists), and the Tokue Collection (900 volumes on 18th and 19th century Western European social thought, especially Utopian Socialism, Anarchism, Marxism, and the German Historical School).
If a desired book or journal is not kept at the university, it can be borrowed or from other the collections of other universities or national libraries, or copies can be made.
Economic Research Center
The Economic Research Center conducts research related to the new global economy that is being formed between businesses, industries, and regions, with a focus on Asia. While cooperating closely with the departments in the School of Economics in both research and education, the center is working to develop a new field of research between courses. It is organized for ease of conducting academic and empirical research from a broad standpoint.
The center was newly established in 2006, in a form that allows it to carry on the work of the previous International Economic Dynamics Research Center. As seen in the organizational chart below, the Research Department is divided into three areas of research: Asian Economy and Regional Alliances, Corporate Strategy and Management, and Resources and Environmental Policy. The center’s full-time professors welcome visiting fellows from Japan and other countries, and conduct academic surveys and research. The Policy and Information Office analyzes problems in economic policy and corporate strategies that occur daily, and immediately communicates the results of these analyses to all sectors.
The three research departments and the Policy and Information Office cooperate in conducting joint research and holding symposiums and seminars, and the results are published as Discussion Papers, Nagoya Economic Studies, Nagoya University Economic Research Center Series. All these publications are exchanged with universities, libraries, and research institutions.
The Resource Room systematically collects and stores a wide range of materials, including government, business, and institutional publications, with a focus on statistical data that form the foundation of empirical and quantitative research on domestic and international economics and business administration. Collection of these materials has continued since 1926 when the center’s predecessor, the Industrial Survey Office, was founded. The Resource Room is also used by many researchers from other universities, students, and businesspeople.
The Multimedia Library is equipped with large computer terminals and various types of OA equipment, which are frequently used by many undergraduate and graduate students who are conducting corporate administration analyses.