Research

Working Papers

1. How immigration is changing the Black-White earnings gap (with Neeraj Kaushal and Felix Muchomba) - NBER WP

2. Does college education promote healthier behaviors? Evidence from demographic distortion caused by Japanese superstitious behavior (with Yichen Shen and Haruko Noguchi) - SSRN WP

Work in Progress

1. Growing up in America: Race, immigration, and age at arrival (with Neeraj Kaushal and Felix Muchomba) 

2. Wait-for-discount: Strategic deferral and dynamic inefficiency under universal health insurance (with Masato Oikawa, Akira Kawamura, and Haruko Noguchi)

3. Anticipation and adaptation: How the oldest-old navigate increased cost-sharing (with Masato Oikawa, Akira Kawamura, and Haruko Noguchi)

4. How does price affect healthcare utilization patterns: Evidence from Japan (with Yingqian Tang, Masato Oikawa, Haruko Noguchi, and Akira Kawamura)

Publications

1. Fu, R., Sohn, Y., Shen, Y., Noguchi, H. (2026) Invisible threat, tangible harm: Radiation Anxiety and birth outcomes after Fukushima. Journal of Health Economics, 107, 103125. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2026.103125

2. Fu, R., Wang, S., Shen, Y., Noguchi, H. (2026) Causal effects of education on marriage and fertility in Japan: A research note on a quasi-experimental approach utilizing zodiac superstition as an exogenous shock. Demography, 12530548. DOI: 10.1215/00703370-12530548.

3. Fujimoto, A., Fu, R., Noguchi, H., Maruyama, S., Nakamura, S. (2025) Breaking brand: An observational study on pharmacy-hospital-patient relationships and generic drug utilisation in Japan. BMJ Open, 15(5): e093601. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093601

4. Fu, R., Liu, S., Oikawa, M., Noguchi, H., Kawamura, A. (2025) Healthcare utilization among Japanese older adults during later stage of prolonged pandemic. Scientific Reports, 15: 13813 (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-98908-x

5. Wels, J., & Fu, R. (2025). Associations of employment status, working time and job satisfaction with sleep duration and sleep quality among the 50+ population in Japan. Industrial Health, 63(5): 465-477. DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.2024-0131 

6. Fu R., Le D.D. & Ibuka Y.  (2025). The impact of reducing formal care benefits on caregivers’ well-being: evidence from Japan. Review of Economics of the Household, 23(4): 1221-1249. DOI: 10.1007/s11150-024-09699-5 

7. Tang Y., Fu R., Noguchi H. (2024). Impact of medical insurance integration on reducing urban-rural health disparity: Evidence from China. Social Science & Medicine, 357: 117163. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117163 

8. Fu R., Iizuka T., & Noguchi H. (2023). Long-term care in Japan. In K. McGarry & J. Gruber (Eds.).  Long-term care around the world, University of Chicago Press.

9. Sandström G., Padyab M., Noguchi H., Fu R., (2023) Convergence and persistent contrasts in the determinants of working-age women in Sweden and Japan living alone since the 1990s. Genus 79: 11 DOI: 10.1186/s41118-023-00192-y 

10. Shen Y., Fu R., and Noguchi H. (2021).  COVID-19’s lockdown and crime: The state of emergency under Abe administration. Asian Economic Policy Review, 16(2): 327-348. DOI: 10.1111/aepr.12339

11. Fu R., Shen Y., and Noguchi H. (2020). The best of both worlds? The economic effects of a hybrid fee-for-service and prospective payment reimbursement system. Health Economics,  30(3): 505-524. DOI: 10.1002/hec.4205

12. Fu R., Noguchi H. (2019). Moral hazard under zero price policy: Evidence from Japanese long-term care claims data. The European Journal of Health Economics, 20(6): 785-799. DOI: 10.1007/s10198-019-01041-6

13. Fu R., Noguchi H. (2019). How do cardiovascular diseases harm labour force participation? Evidence of nationally representative survey data from Japan, a Super-Aged Society. PloS  One,  DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219149

14. Fu, R., Noguchi, H. (2018). Does the positive relationship between health and marriage reflect protection or selection? Evidence from middle-aged and elderly Japanese. Review of Economics of the Household, 16(4): 1003-1016. DOI: 10.1007/s11150-018-9406-4

15. Fu, R., Noguchi, H., Kawamura, A., Takahashi, H., Taymiya, N. (2017). Spillover effect of Japanese long-term care insurance as an employment promotion policy for family caregivers. Journal of Health Economics, 56: 103-112. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.09.011 

16. Fu, R., Noguchi, H., Tachikawa, H., Aiba, M., Nakamine, S., Kawamura, et. al. (2017). Relation between social network and psychological distress among middle-aged adults in Japan: Evidence from a national longitudinal survey. Social Science & Medicine, 175: 58-65. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.12.043 

17. Fu, R., Noguchi, H. Does marriage make us healthier? Inter-country comparative evidence from China, Japan, and Korea. (2016). PloS one, 11(2), e0148990. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148990

18.  Fu, R., Noguchi, H., Suga, K. (2016). A revisit to the Grossman model with endogenous health depreciation. Economics Bulletin, 36(4): 2405-2412. 

Recent Presentations

1. NBER NY Seminar, "How immigration is changing the Black-White earnings gap," March 27, 2026, New York.

2. iHEA Congress 2025, "The effect of cost-sharing on medical care demand: Insights from novel real-world data for the oldest-old in Japan," July 23, 2025, Bali.

3. EuHEA Conference 2024, "The effect of cost-sharing on medical care demand: Insights from novel real-world data for the oldest-old in Japan," July 2, 2024, Vienna .

4. Ca'Foscari Seminar, "In utero exposure to radiation fear and birth outcome: Evidence from Fukushima nuclear power plant accident," November 22, 2023, Venice.

5. WEAI 2023 Annual Conference,  "In utero exposure to radiation fear and birth outcome: Evidence from Fukushima nuclear power plant accident," July 5, 2023, San Diego.

6. ASSA 2023 Annual Meeting, "In utero exposure to radiation fear and birth outcome: Evidence from Fukushima nuclear power plant accident," January 6, 2023, New Orleans.

7. 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences, "In utero exposure to radiation fear and birth outcome: Evidence from Fukushima nuclear power plant accident," August 25, 2022, Lindau.

8. EuHEA Conference 2022, "The impact of contracting formal care on informal care provision and caregiver well-being: evidence from Japan," July 7, 2022, Oslo.

9. European Population Conference 2022, "Convergence and persistent contrasts in the determinants of living alone among working-age women in Sweden and Japan since the 1990s,"  June 30, 2022, Online (Groningen).

10. Irdes-Dauphine AHEPE 8th Workshop, "The impact of contracting formal care on informal care provision and caregiver well-being: evidence from Japan," June 23, 2022, Paris.

Main Fundings

FY2026-29, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research C (Principal Investigator), JSPS

FY2022-25, Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (Principal Investigator), JSPS

FY2019-21, Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (Principal Investigator), JSPS

FY2017-18, Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up (Principal Investigator), JSPS