Profile
Dr. Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Innovation Research and Graduate School of Business Administration at Hitotsubashi University.
He studies a wide range of topics in innovation management linking management and legal perspectives. He has published research articles on innovation policy, higher education policy, and intellectual property management. His research topics cover industrial design innovation measurement, socio-institutional factors of academic commercialization engagement, and contract-renewal motives of university-industry collaborative research.
He received an L.L.M. from Osaka University, Japan, in 2007 and a Doctor of Engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2015. He worked as a policy analyst in innovation and intellectual property policy for one of the largest private think-tank in Japan. Prior to joining Hitotsubashi University, he worked for the University of Tokyo as a Project Research Associate.
ORCID: 0000-0003-4393-3989
CV
Work experience (Full-time positions)
2007.4-2012.12. Researcher/Policy Analyst, Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. (Tokyo, Japan)
2013.7.-2014.3. Project Research Assistant, Todai Policy Alternative Institute, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
2014.4-2015.9. JSPS Research Fellow DC2, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
2016.10-2019.3 Project Research Associate, Department of Technology Management for Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo. (Japan)
2019.4-2024.3 Assistant Professor, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
2019.4-2024.3 Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
2024.4- Associate Professor, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
2024.4- Associate Professor, Graduate School of Business Administration, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
Work experience (Part-time positions)
2009.8-2012.12. Project Researcher, Todai Policy Alternative Institute, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
2013.7.-2014.3. Project Research Assistant, Todai Policy Alternative Institute, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
2015.9-2016.9 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
2015.11-2016.9 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
2017.4-2019.3 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Institute of Innovation Research, Hitotsubashi University (Tokyo, Japan)
2017.5-2019.3 / 2021.9- Visiting Researcher, National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) (Tokyo, Japan)
2018.6- Part-time Lecturer, Waseda Business School (Graduate School of Business Administration), Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan)
2019.4- Visiting Researcher, Institute for Future Initiatives, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
2020.7-2021.3 Visiting Associate Professor, Institute of Advanced Science, Yokohama National University (Kanagawa, Japan)
2021.9- Part-time Lecturer, Faculty of Global Informatics, Chuo University (Tokyo, Japan)
2021.9-2024.3. Senior Fellow, The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research (Tokyo, Japan)
Education
2005: B.A., Faculty of Law, Osaka University (Japan)
2007: L.L.M, Graduate School of Law, Osaka University (Japan)
2015: Doctor of Engineering, Department of Technology Management for Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (Japan)
Supervisor: Prof. Toshiya Watanabe
Teaching (in English)
Case Study (Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy)
Department of Technology Management for Innovation & Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo
Co-lecturer
2017-2019 Autumn & Winter
Group exercise of evidence-making in science, technology, and innovation policy
For graduate students
International Intellectual Property Management
Department of Technology Management for Innovation, The University of Tokyo
Guest lecturer
2013 & 2014 Autumn & Winter (introduction of IP management study), 2016-2021 Autumn & Winter (industrial design & trademark protection)
Lecture in intellectual property management
For graduate students
Selected Teaching Experience (in Japanese)
Innovation Management
Faculty of Commerce, Hitotsubashi University
For undergraduates
2019-2022 Spring & Summer
Systematic lecture on innovation process and its management
Seminar (Intensive Reading)
Faculty of Commerce, Hitotsubashi University
For undergraduates
2019-2022
Intensive discussion on innovator management and design management
Knowledge Management
Exercise of social network analysis
Dept. of Technology Management for Innovation, The University of Tokyo
For graduate students
2018 Spring & Summer
Quantitative Research for Innovation Management Research
Exercise of econometrics
Waseda Business School
For graduate students
2018 Summer, 2019 Autumn, 2020-2022 Summer
Contributions to the academic society
Editor, The Journal of Science Policy and Research Management (Japan Society for Research Policy and Innovation Management) (2016.4.-)
Secretary General, Japan Society for Research Policy and Innovation Management. (2016.11.-2021.9.)
Reviewer: Research Policy, Technology in Society, Trends in Food and Society, British Food Journal
Languages and skills
Native: Japanese
Fluent: VBA, Stata
Good: English, R
Beginner: Mandarin, French, Python
*Italic indicates a computer language
Fun facts
Long-time Apple funboy (Color Classic II (1995?) -> Power Macintosh 6400 (1997?) -> G4 Cube (2001?) -> Macbook Pro (2009) -> Macbook Air (2013) -> Macbook Air (2015) -> Macbook Air (2019) -> Macbook Pro (2021))
Work-in-progress papers
[Innovation Policy] Policy transfer and tradeoff between learning and strategic differentiation
Work-in-progress
[Science Policy] Job satisfaction of PhD graduates from Japanese universities
Work-in-progress
[Science Policy] Academic outputs of industry experienced PhD graduates (w/Prof. Shibayama)
Published discussion paper
Presented at APIC 2022
Preparing for submission
[Technology Transfer | Science Policy | Higher Education] Public perceptions of university-industry collaborations
Presented at T2S conference
Preparing for submission
[Technology Management] Industrial designers' invention
Further interview survey for revision
[Marketing | Innovation] Design convergence and technology innovation (w/Mr. Kataoka, Prof. Akiike)
Presented at 4D conference
Preparing for submission
[Higher Education | Science Policy] Adoption of research administrators in universities (w/Prof. Takahashi)
Doing an interview survey
[Technology Management | Business Strategy] Standard essential patents and bargaining power (w/Prof. Shiu, Prof. Yasumoto)
Presented at SMS Conference
Further theoretical & empirical analysis are needed
[Technology Management] Contracts and technological knowledge absorption (w/Prof. Yasumoto, Mr. Futamata)
Preparing for a research