Yasuyuki Sawada at IDEAS                      

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WORKS DONE

Book

1. Balisacan, Arsenio, Yesim M.Elhan-Kayalar, Majah-Leah M.Ravago, James Roumasset, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Tetsushi Sonobe, eds. (2024). Designing Competition Policy for Economic Development in Asia and the Pacific, ADB Institute. 

2. Keijiro Otsuka, Takashi Kurosaki, Yasuyuki Sawada, Tetsushi Sonobe, eds., (2024). Next-Generation of Empirical Research in Economics. Springer.

3. Bambang Susantono, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Cyn-Young Park, eds. (2020). Navigating COVID-19 in Asia and the Pacific, Asian Development Bank (ADB)

   • This book gathers analysis and ideas to help policymakers tackle the impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and build a more resilient and sustainable future.

4. Yasuyuki Sawada, Minhaj Mahmud, and Naohiro Kitano, eds. (2018). Economic and Social Development of Bangladesh: Miracle and Challenges, Palgrave Macmillan.

   • Book launching at ADBI Tokyo and BIDS Dhaka (Daily Star).

5. Yasuyuki Sawada, Michiko Ueda, and Tetsuya Matsubayashi (2017). Economic Analysis of Suicide Prevention: Towards Evidence-Based Policy-making, Springer.

   • Japanese version won Nikkei Book Prize

6. Daniel P. Aldrich, Sothea Oum, and Yasuyuki Sawada, eds. (2015). Resilience and Recovery in Asian Disasters: Community Ties, Market Mechanisms, and Governance, Series: Risk, Governance and Society Vol. 18, Springer.

7. Yasuyuki Sawada and Sothea Oum, eds. (2015), Disaster Risks, Social Preferences, and Policy Effects: Field Experiments in Selected ASEAN and East Asian Countries’, ERIA Research Project Report FY2013, No.34.Jakarta: ERIA.

8. Akihiko Matsui, Osamu Nagase, Alison Sheldon, Dan Goodley, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Satoshi Kawashima, eds. (2011). Creating a Society for All: Disability and Economy, the Disability Press, Leeds, United Kingdom.

9. Keijiro Otsuka, Jonna P. Estudillo, and Yasuyuki Sawada, eds. (2009). Rural Poverty and Income Dynamics in Asia and Africa, Routledge.

Journal Special Issues Co-Edited

1. Special Issue "Demographic change and wellbeing in Japan and Asian economies.” Japanese Economic Review, 2024. Guest-edited by Yasuyuki Sawada.

   • This special issue on the Economics of Aging presents research on life satisfaction, mental health, and well-being, using extensive data from Asia, offering insights for developing countries facing similar demographic shifts.

   • The contributors utilize panel microdata sources of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) family of datasets such as the Japanese Study on Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA), Malaysia Ageing and Retirement Survey (MARS), and other surveys conducted in Japan or other Asian countries. 

2. Special Issue "Health Capacity to Work among Older Persons in Asia." Asian Development Review 41(1), April 2024. Co-Edited by Yasuyuki Sawada and Aiko Kikkawa. 

   • This issue features the outcomes of regional comparative research on the health capacity to work among older persons or simply "silver dividends" in Asia.  The first paper by Aiko Kikkawa, Takashi Oshio, Satoshi Shimizutani, Yasuyuki Sawada, Naohiro Ogawa, Albert Park and Tetsushi Sonobe  presents harmonized methodologies employed to estimate health capacity to work, followed by seven country papers. 

3. Special Issue "The Climate Change Challenge to Asia's Development," Asian Development Review 35(2), September 2018.

4. Special Section “Natural Disaster, Poverty, and Development,” World Development 94, June 2017. Co-Edited by Yasuyuki Sawada and Yoshito Takasaki. 

5. Special Issue "Conference on Economics of Ageing in Japan and Other Societies," Japanese Economic Review 67(2), June 2016. Co-Edited by Hidehiko Ichimura, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Satoshi Shimizutani.

6. Special Issue: A Study of Intrahousehold Resource Allocation and Gender Discrimination in Rural Andhra Pradesh, India. The Developing Economies Volume 44, Number 4 (December 2006). Co-Edited by Nobuhiko Fuwa, Seiro Ito, Kensuke Kubo, Takashi Kurosaki, and Yasuyuki Sawada.

Review Articles and Chapters

• Aiko Kikkawa, Takashi Oshio, Satoshi Shimizutani, Yasuyuki Sawada, Naohiro Ogawa, Albert Park and Tetsushi Sonobe (2024) "Health Capacity to Work among Older Persons in Asia: Key Findings from a Regional Comparative Study." Asian Development Review 41(1), April 2024, 5-37.

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2022). "Preferences, Behavior, and Welfare Outcomes against Disasters: A Review." In M. Skidmore, ed., Handbook on the Economics of Disasters. Edward Elgar.

•  Yasuyuki Sawada and Lea R. Sumulong (2021). "Macroeconomic Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Developing Asia." in John Beirne, Peter J. Morgan, and Tetsushi Sonobe, eds., COVID-19 Impacts and Policy Options: An Asian Perspective, Asian Development Bank Institute.

  • The launch webinar recording is here.  

• Myoung-jae Lee & Yasuyuki Sawada (2020). "Review on Difference in Differences," Korean Economic Review 36, 135-173 (downloadable for free).

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Takeshi Aida (2019). "The Field Experiment Revolution in Development Economics." In: Kawagoe, T., Takizawa, H. (eds) Diversity of Experimental Methods in Economics. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6065-7_3.

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2019) Infrastructure investments, technologies and jobs in Asia, International Journal of Training Research 17:sup1, 12-25. DOI: 10.1080/14480220.2019.1629724 (built on a review paper: Yasuyuki Sawada (2015), "The Impacts of Infrastructure in Development: A Selective Survey" ADBI Working Paper 511, Asian Development Bank Research Institute).

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2018). Disasters, Insurance, and Preferences. Ayse K. Üskül and Edited by Shigehiro Oishi, eds., Socio-Economic Environment and Human Psychology: Social, Ecological, and Cultural Perspectives, Oxford University Press

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Yoshito Takasaki (2017). "Natural Disaster, Poverty, and Development: An Introduction," World Development Special Issue “Natural Disaster, Poverty, and Development,” pp. 2–15, 2017. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X1630585X)

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2017). "Disasters, Household Decisions, and Insurance Mechanisms: A Review of Evidence and a Case Study from a Developing Country in Asia." Asian Economic Policy Review 12, 18-40.

• Sawada, Y. (2013). The Economic Impact of Earthquakes on Households: Evidence from Japan. In D. Guha-Sapir, & I. Santos (Eds), The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

• Joe Chen, Yun Jeong Choi, Kohta Mori, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Saki Sugano (2012) “Socio-Economic Studies on Suicide: A Survey,” Journal of Economic Surveys. 26(2): 271–306.

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2007). “The Impact of Natural and Manmade Disasters on Household Welfare,” Agricultural Economics 37 (s1), 59-73.

Selected Journal Papers

• Oikawa, Keita, Fusanori Iwasaki, Yasuyuki Sawada,  Shigehiro Shinozaki (2025) "Unintended Consequences of Business Digitalization among MSMEs during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Indonesia." Asian Economic Papers 24:1. 

  • An older version: ADB Economics Working Paper Series No. 725.

  • This study employs unique data from Indonesia to investigate whether and how digitalization of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) helped them weather the adverse shocks from the pandemic and resulting lockdowns. The main empirical result is that, in the pandemic’s early phases, digitalized MSMEs disproportionately encountered negative effects on their business outcomes. The seemingly harmful elements of digitalization disappeared during later stages. The findings provide critical implications for industrial and competition policies related to MSMEs during the COVID-19 recovery process.

• Tanaka, Tomoaki, Junichi Yamasaki, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Khaliun Dovchinsuren (2025). "Barriers to Saving for Retirement: Evidence from a Public Pension Program in Mongolia," forthcoming, Journal of Political Economy: Microeconomics. 

  • An older version: Tomoaki Tanaka, Junichi Yamasaki, Yasuyuki Sawada, Khaliun Dovchinsuren (2019). "Barriers to Public Pension Program Participation in a Developing Country." JICA Research Institute Working Paper No.199. 

  • We study three possible constraints to public pension participation by using a randomized control trial and the administrative records covering about 40 percent of Mongolian subdistricts. While providing information about subsidiary monetary benefits does not increase participation significantly, providing information about the mobile phone payment of pension funds and dispatching experts to a pension administrative agency from a foreign aid agency both increase payments. These results imply that perceived transaction costs and trust affect demand for pension services. They also suggest that foreign aid can affect citizens’participation in public services by changing their perception of these services.

• Hidehiko Ichimura, Xiaoyan Lei, Chulhee Lee, Jinkook Lee, Albert Park & Yasuyuki Sawada (2024). Wellbeing of the older individuals in East Asia. Japanese Economic Review . https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00168-3

  • This study analyzed the well-being of older individuals in China, Korea, and Japan using comparable micro-level data from national aging studies (CHARLS, KLoSA, and JSTAR, respectively). We focused on depressive symptoms as a well-being measure, examining demographic, economic, family-social, and health factors. Decomposition and simulation analyses show that while some differences in depression rates are explained by individual characteristics, significant unexplained differences remain across countries. Even after accounting for various factors, older individuals in Korea were found to be more prone to depression than those in China or Japan.

• Zhou, Xiaolan, Yasuyuki Sawada, Matthew Shum and Elaine S. Tan. (2024) "COVID-19 containment policies, digitalization and sustainable development goals: Evidence from Alibaba’s administrative data." (Nature) Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 11, 75 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02547-4.

  • The impact of digital platforms on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the business sustainability of MSMEs under varying containment policies during and after COVID-19, remains under-investigated. Using large administrative data from Alibaba Group’s food delivery platform, we found that the platform supported food security, wellbeing, employment, and MSME sustainability throughout the pandemic. Our analysis revealed diverse responses to containment policies, with complete lockdowns reducing new entrants, especially in the cooked food sector. Chain stores, particularly those with larger networks or multiapp stores, exhibited stronger resilience, highlighting specialization (at the outlet level) and wider coverage (at the network level) as critical for business sustainability in challenging economic circumstances.

• Kasahara, Hiroyuki, Yasuyuki Sawada and Michio Suzuki (2024). The Effect of Bank Recapitalization Policy on Credit Allocation, Investment, and Productivity: Evidence from a Banking Crisis in Japan, Journal of Banking & Finance 158, 107047.

  • We investigate the impact of government capital injections during the 1997 Japanese banking crisis using firm-level data. Findings indicate that post-injection banks increased lending to both high-productivity non-zombie and low-productivity zombie firms. While the former aligns with conventional theories, the latter suggests credit misallocation toward struggling firms mainly for debt servicing. High-productivity firms show positive labor and total factor productivity growth, potentially driven by sales growth and increased advertising expenses.

  • An older version: CIRJE DP; CREPE DP TUPD DP, 2023

  • "The Effect of Bank Recapitalization Policy on Corporate Investment: Evidence from a Banking Crisis in Japan," CIRJE Discussion Paper F-1033, 2016, University of Tokyo.

  • Hiroyuki Kasahara, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Michio Suzuki, “Investment and Borrowing Constraints: Evidence from Japanese Firms,” presented at NBER Japan Project Meeting, June 2011.

• Yusuke Kuroishi & Yasuyuki Sawada (2024) "On the Stability of Preferences: Experimental Evidence from Two Disasters," European Economic Review 161, 104632.

  • We investigate the impacts of two disasters in Japan and the Philippines on preferences using the convex time budget experiments and multiple price list experiments with monetary rewards. By exploiting natural experiments which are combined with lab-in-the-field experiments, we aim to investigate whether and how long preferences are affected by extreme events. We find evidence supporting preference instability caused by exposure to natural hazards: in both our study sites, disaster exposure seems to make individuals more present-biased even though they differ in socioeconomic conditions and disaster types. The estimated impacts are persistent over the short and long time intervals in both disaster-affected areas and are robust to the method of measuring preferences.

  • Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)

  • The East Laguna Village study

  • Previous versions: CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1130, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, 2019; and Sawada, Y. and S. Oum, eds., March (2014), 'Disaster Risks, Social Preferences, and Policy Effects: Field Experiments in Selected ASEAN and East Asian Countries’, ERIA Research Project Report FY2013, No.34.Jakarta: ERIA (This report shows the initial findings from the lab-in-the-field experiments in various Asian countries including the first-round CTB and MPL experiments in Japan and the Philippines). 

• He, Guojun, Yuhang Pan, Albert Park, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Elaine S. Tan. "Reducing Single-Use Cutlery with Green Nudges: Evidence from China’s Food Delivery Industry," Science, 8 Sep 2023, Vol 381, Issue 6662, DOI: 10.1126/science.add9884.

  • Science issue cover featuring our article

  • Wall Street Journal; University of Tokyo press release (in Japanese)

  • ADB and Alibaba Local Services Launched a New Joint Study on Digitalization of Food Supply Chains and Waste Management in the PRC (News Release on 25 September 2020)

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Minhaj Mahmud, Mai Seki, and Hikaru Kawarazaki (2023), "Fighting the Learning Crisis in Developing Countries: A Randomized Experiment of Self-Learning at the Right Level," accepted at  Economic Development and Cultural Change. Replication package.

  • "Side by Side: Providing quality education for all," a video clip featuring our study

  • This RCT-based study investigates the effectiveness of the "Kumon Method of Learning," a globally popular method of self-learning at the right level in improving learning outcomes—the cognitive and noncognitive abilities of disadvantaged students studying at BRAC Primary Schools (BPSs) in Bangladesh.

  • We find substantial improvements in cognitive abilities measured by math test scores and catch-up effects in terms of noncognitive abilities or personality traits measured through a self-esteem scale.  Moreover, our study is the first to use alternative cognitive ability measures, that is, time reduction as well as time-adjusted test scores, which are critical dimensions of cognitive development. 

    • We also investigate the long-term effects using students’ math results of the national-level exam, finding a reasonable longer-term impact on cognitive abilities for younger students. 

    • Our estimates indicate that the program’s benefits reasonably exceed its costs.

    • An older version is: Yasuyuki Sawada, Minhaj Mahmud, Mai Seki, An Le, and Hikaru Kawarazaki (2017) "Individualized Self-learning Program to Improve Primary Education: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Bangladesh" JICA Research Institute Working Paper No.156, JICA Research Institute, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

• Takeshi Aida, Emi Kiyota, Yasuhiro Tanaka,  and Yasuyuki Sawada (2023) "Building Social Capital with Elders’ Leadership through a Community Hub “Ibasho” in the Philippines and Nepal," (Nature) Scientific Reports 13: 3652. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-30724-7

  • We study activities of Ibasho, an innovative project to rebuild community social capital after disasters triggered by natural hazards. "Ibasho" means “a place where you can feel like yourself” in Japanese. At Ibasho we believe this is what every person should have as they age – a place to live in safety, comfort and dignity, where he or she is valued as a person full of history and experience.

  • In this paper, we summarize our study on Ibasho projects in Nepal after the April 2015 Nepal earthquake and the Philippines after 2013 typhoon Yolanda.  

  • We thank the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) Community Resilience program, the Japan-World Bank Program, and JSPS Grant for funding and the World Bank Disaster Risk Management Hub in Tokyo for technical support.

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Toyo Ashida, and Keiko Iwasaki (2023). "Heterogenous Effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake on Prosociality of People Depending on Their Age." (Nature) Scientific Reports 13: 3211. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29536-6 

  • This study investigates the instability of prosociality in the real world by looking at the age-specific non-linear relationship between disaster exposure and prosocial behavior. We employed unique microdata from two communities in Japan that were hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster in 2011. Among the older groups, disaster damages undermine prosociality, whereas the younger groups show reinforced prosocial behaviors. These findings can be explained consistently by combining two possible determinants of prosocial behavior: pure or impure altruism and self-enforcements in repeated interactions at workplaces. Age information can help disentangle these two elements at least partially.

  • Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)

  • "International Comparison of Reconstruction of Living Infrastructure from Disasters" Project: Surveys with Futaba residents in Fukushima who were displaced by the nuclear power plant failure caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

• Hikaru Kawarazaki, Minhaj Mahmud, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Mai Seki (2023). "Haste Makes No Waste: Peer Effects of a Speed Competition on Math Score," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, published online on 16 February 2023, https://doi.org/10.1111/obes.12545.

  • This study investigates the effects of speed competition in classrooms on young pupils' learning outcomes using students' daily progress data in a self-learning program at BRAC Primary Schools (BPSs) in Bangladesh. While speed competition could generate negative consequences, our results show overall positive peer effects on problem-solving time and scores. The effects are stronger among peers with similar abilities, without negatively affecting others. Our results show efficiency gains from non-market competition in education and learning.

  • "Side by Side: Providing quality education for all," a video clip featuring our study of Kumon method of learning in Bangladesh.

  • An older version:  "Haste Makes No Waste: Peer Effects of a Speed Competition on Math Score," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1151, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, 

• Daisuke Adachi, Hiroyuki Nakata, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Kunio Sekiguch (2023). "Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard in Corporate Insurance Markets: Evidence from the 2011 Thailand Floods." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Volume 205, January 2023, Pages 376-386.

  • This paper is the first empirical study on adverse selection and moral hazard in the corporate disaster insurance market using a unique plant-level panel dataset on the 2011 Thailand floods. We find evidence of adverse selection for both property and business interruption insurance. Moral hazard, measured by impacts on recovery efforts, is also found for both types of insurance, albeit more salient effects for business interruption insurance.

  • One of the outputs from RIETI Project, "Post-disaster Recovery Policies and Insurance Mechanisms against Disasters: Case studies on earthquakes in Japan and floods in Thailand," April 1, 2012 - March 31, 2014. We study plants affected by the 2011 Floods in Thailand.

• Juheon Lee, Daniel P. Aldrich, Emi Kiyota, Yasuhiro Tanaka, and Yasuyuki Sawada (2022) "Social capital building interventions and self-reported post-disaster recovery in Ofunato, Japan," (Nature) Scientific Reports12:10274. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-14537-8.

  • We study activities of Ibasho house Ofunato, an innovative project to rebuild community social capital after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

  • This study demonstrates that the individuals who actively participated in a community center—created for and led by neighborhood elders—reported higher levels of family and neighborhood recovery than similar individuals who did not participate.  Community-based programs that strengthen social ties even among elderly residents can measurably improve their recoveries.

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Takeshi Aida, Andrew S. Griffen, Eiji Kozuka, Haruko Noguchi, and Yasuyuki Todo (2022), "Democratic Institutions and Social Capital: Experimental Evidence on School-Based Management from a Developing Country," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization Volume 198, June 2022, Pages 267-279.

  • We study Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)'s School of All Project, supporting the basic education sector in Africa. 

  • We estimate the effects of a democratic school-based management (SBM) institution on social capital formation in Burkina Faso using a large-scale randomized controlled trial of the SBM combined with lab-in-the-field experiments to measure social capital. We find that this SBM significantly increased social capital in the form of public goods game contributions. 

  • A previous version: Yasuyuki Sawada, Takeshi Aida, Andrew S. Griffen, Eiji Kozuka, Haruko Noguchi, and Yasuyuki Todo (2016) "Election, Implementation, and Social Capital in School-Based Management: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment on the COGES Project in Burkina Faso," JICA Research Institute Working Paper No.120, JICA Research Institute, Tokyo.  

• Keitaro Aoyagi, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Masahiro Shoji (2022), "Irrigation Infrastructure and Trust: Evidence from Natural and Lab-in-the-Field Experiments in Rural Communities," World Development Volume 156, August 2022, 105906.

  • We study Walawe Left Bank Irrigation Upgrading and Extension Project of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Sri Lanka.

  • This study tests two processes of trust formation by farmer’s access to irrigation infrastructure: particularized trust built on repeated interactions of rational individuals and generalized trust based on arational habits.

  • We conducted an incentivized trust game with beneficiaries of the irrigated land settlement program in rural Sri Lanka, where land allocation was arguably random.

  • We find trust among community members monotonically increases with each farmer’s years of access to irrigation, regardless of social relationships but the nexus between irrigation access years and trust does not necessarily differ between in-group and out-group members.

  • Our findings suggest the relative significance of generalized trust formation by habits in irrigated communities. Since generalized trust is essential to facilitate market transactions, our finding is especially relevant when formulating infrastructure investment policies.

  • An older version: "Does Infrastructure Facilitate Social Capital Accumulation? Evidence from Natural and Artefactual Field Experiments in a Developing Country," JICA Research Institute Working Paper No. 65, JICA Research Institute, Tokyo, 2014.

• Minhaj Mahmud, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Mari Tanaka (2022) "Microfinance Competition and Multiple Borrowing: Evidence using Panel Data from Bangladesh," Review of Development Economics. 

  • We study the overlapping borrowing issues of microcredit programs in Bangladesh. We find that the sharply growing number of microfinance institutions (MFIs) coincides with a corresponding increase in household borrowing from multiple MFIs and households accessing loans generally as well as significant rises in the total values of household assets, especially in the form of agricultural equipment. Although the increasing number of MFIs resulted in some households borrowing to repay previous loans, the fraction of such households is relatively small.

  • An older version is available as "Microfinance Competition and Multiple Borrowing: Evidence Using Panel Data from Bangladesh," JICA Research Institute Working Paper No. 216.

  • A study conducted under JICA RI Project: See Yasuyuki Sawada, Minhaj Mahmud, and Naohiro Kitano, eds. (2018). Economic and Social Development of Bangladesh: Miracle and Challenges, Palgrave Macmillan.

• Chung, I. J., Lee, J., Sawada, Y., Sim, S. G., & Son, J. (2021). "Living environments and child development: Comparing two groups of out-of-home children." Journal of Human Capital 15(2), 346-371. https://doi.org/10.1086/713568

  • We compare two groups of out-of-home Korean children in different environments, i.e., traditional orphanage-type institutions and family-like group homes, using unique data from surveys and lab experiments. Exploiting the arguably random assignment of children to institutions, we find that children in group homes are more altruistic, emotionally stable, satisfied with school, and forward-looking.

• Takuma Kunieda, Keisuke Okada, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Akihisa Shibata (2021). "On the Two Catching-Up Mechanisms in Asian Development." Asian Development Review 38(2), 31-57.

  • This paper tests a hypothesis that Asian economies went through different phases of catching-up by capital accumulation, technological imitation, and then innovation -this hypothesis is discussed in ADB (2020) Asia's Journey to Prosperity, Chapter 5 Technological Progress as Key Driver.

• Matsuyama Y, Fujiwara T, Sawada Y, Yagi J, Mashiko H, Kawachi I, et al. (2020) Delay discounting in children exposed to disaster. PLOS ONE 15(12): e0243994. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243994

  • We study the psychosocial impacts of the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

• Yuki Higuchi, Nobuhiko Fuwa, Kei Kajisa, Takahiro Sato, and Yasuyuki Sawada. "Disaster Aid Targeting and Self-Reporting Bias: Natural Experimental Evidence from the Philippines," Sustainability 2019, 11(3), 771, 1-13.

  • We study the impacts of the 2012 Floods in Laguna Province of the Philippines on farm households.

  • Background information: Four decades of the East Laguna Village study

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Hiroyuki Nakata, and Mari Tanaka, "Short and Long Recall Errors in Retrospective Household Surveys: Evidence from a Developing Country," Journal of Development Studies 55(10), 2232-2253, 2019. 

  • We study recall errors in household surveys using unique resurvey information based on VHLSS in Vietnam.

  • Previously titled "Asking Retrospective Questions in Household Surveys: Evidence from Vietnam" RIETI Discussion Paper 10-E-008, 2010.

  • Background information: Foreign Aid Governance Project at RIETI, FY2007-2010.

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Yoshito Takasaki (2017) “Natural Disaster, Poverty, and Development,” World Development, Volume 94 (2017) p.1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X1630599X

• Yoko Sakai, Jonna P. Estudillo, Nobuhiko Fuwa, Yuki Higuchi, and Yasuyuki Sawada. "Do Natural Disasters Affect the Poor Disproportionately? Price Changes and Welfare Impact in the Aftermath of Typhoon Milenyo in the Rural Philippines." World Development, pp. 16–26, 2017.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X16305885)

  • We study the impacts of the 2006 Typhoon Milenyo in Laguna Province of the Philippines on household wellbeing.

  • Background information: Four decades of the East Laguna Village study

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Hiroyuki Nakata, and Tomoaki Kotera. "Self-Production, Friction, and Risk Sharing against Disasters: Evidence from a Developing Country." World Development, pp. 27–37, 2017.

  • We test the full consumption insurance hypothesis under substantial self-production using unique resurvey information based on VHLSS in Vietnam.

  • Background information: Foreign Aid Governance Project at RIETI, FY2007-2010. 

  • An older version: SAWADA Yasuyuki & NAKATA Hiroyuki & KOTERA Tomoaki, 2011. "Self-Production, Friction, and Risk Sharing against Disasters: Evidence from a developing country," RIETI Discussion Papers 11017, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

• Hiroyuki Hikichi, Yasuyuki Sawada, Toru Tsuboya, Jun Aida, Katsunori Kondo, Shihoko Koyama, and Ichiro Kawachi. 2017. “Residential relocation and change in social capital: A natural experiment from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.” Science Advances vol. 3 no. 7, e1700426, 2017. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1700426. <http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700426.full>

  • Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) Project in Iwanuma.

• William duPont IV, Ilan Noy, Yoko Okuyama, and Yasuyuki Sawada “The Long-Run Socio-Economic Consequences of a Large Disaster: The 1995 Earthquake in Kobe,” PLoS ONE (DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0138714) October 1, 2015.

• Yun Jeong Choi & Joe Chen & Yasuyuki Sawada, "Life Insurance and Suicide: Asymmetric Information Revisited," B. E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Contributions), 2015.  CIRJE Discussion Paper Series F-558, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, 2008.

• Esteban Pretel, Julen, and Yasuyuki Sawada, “On the Role of Policy Interventions in Structural Change and Economic Development: The Case of Postwar Japan,” Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 40(C), pages 67-83, 2014.  An older version: RIETI Discussion Paper 09-E-001, 2009. 

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Masahiro Shoji, Shinya Sugawara and Naoko Shinkai, "The Role of Infrastructure in Mitigating Poverty Dynamics: The Case of an Irrigation Project in Sri Lanka," B. E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy (Topics) Volume 14, Issue 3. Pages 1117-1144, 2014.

  • An older version: Sawada, Yasuyuki & Shoji, Masahiro & Sugawara, Shinya & Shinkai, Naoko, 2009. "The Role of Infrastructure in Mitigating Poverty Dynamics: The Case of an Irrigation Project in Sri Lanka," JBICI Discussion Paper No. 16, JBIC Institute, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, 2008.

• Emmanuel Jimenez and Yasuyuki Sawada ‘Does Community Management Help Keep Children in Schools?  Evidence from El Salvador’s Panel Data,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 62(2), 307-338, 2014.

• Hiroyuki Yamada, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Xubei Luo (2013). Why is Absenteeism Low among Public Health Workers in Lao PDR?  Journal of Development Studies 49(1), 125-133, 2013.

• Kamal Lamichhane and Yasuyuki Sawada (2013). "Disability and Returns to Education in a Developing Country," Economics of Education Review 37, 85-94, 2013.  An older version: CIRJE Discussion Paper F-645, Graduate School of Economics, the University of Tokyo, 2009.

• Sonali Senaratna Sellamuttu, Takeshi Aida, Ryuji Kasahara, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Deeptha Wijerathna (2013), “How Access to Irrigation Influences Poverty and Livelihoods: A Case Study from Sri Lanka,” Journal of Development Studies Volume 50, Issue, 5, 2014, Pages 748-768. An older version: “How Access to Irrigation Influences Poverty and Livelihoods: A Case Study from Sri Lanka,” JICA Research Institute Working Paper. No.59, 2013.

• Hidemi Kimura, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Yuko Mori (2012). "Aid Proliferation and Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Analysis," World Development Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 1–10, 2012 (the lead article of the volume).

• Masahiro Shoji, Keitaro Aoyagi, Ryuji Kasahara, Mika Ueyama, and Yasuyuki Sawada, “Social Capital Formation and Credit Access: Evidence from Sri Lanka” World Development Vol. 40, No. 12, December 2012, Pages 2522–2536

• Aminur Rahman and Yasuyuki Sawada (2012). “Can Donor Coordination Solve the Aid Proliferation Problem?” Economics Letters 116(3), September 2012, Pages 609–612.  A previous version is available as Policy Research Working Paper 5251, (Investment Climate Department; Regulatory Simplification Unit; World Bank, March 2010,.

• Charity Gay E. Ramos, Jonna P. Estudillo, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Keijiro Otsuka, “Transformation of the Rural Economy in the Philippines,1988-2006,” Journal of Development Studies Volume 48, Issue 11, November 2012, pages 1629-1648.

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Kazumitsu Nawata, Masako Ii, and Mark J. Lee (2011) “Did the Financial Crisis in Japan Affect Household Welfare Seriously?” Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 43(2-3), 297-324, 2011.

• Jeong-Joon Lee and Yasuyuki Sawada (2010). "Precautionary Saving under Liquidity Constraints: Evidence from Rural Pakistan,” Journal of Development Economics 91(1), 77-86, 2010.

• Joe Chen, Yun Jeong Choi, and Yasuyuki Sawada "Joint Liability Borrowing and Suicide", Economics Letters 109 (2), November 2010, Pages 69-71.

• Sung Jin Kang and Yasuyuki Sawada (2009). "Did Public Transfers Crowd Out Private Transfers in Korea duing the Financial Crisis?” (with Sung Jin Kang), Journal of Development Studies 45(2), 276-294.

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Michael Lokshin (2009). "Obstacles to School Progression in Rural Pakistan: An Analysis of Gender and Sibling Rivalry Using Field Survey Data," Journal of Development Economics 88(2), 2009, pp. 335-347. (Previously titled: 'Household Schooling Decisions in Rural Pakistan,' Policy Research Working Paper No. 2541, the World Bank, 2001).

• Jonna P. Estudillo, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Keijiro Otsuka (2009), "The Changing Determinants of Schooling Investments and Overseas Migration:  Evidence from Villages in the Philippines, 1985-1989 and 2000-2004,” Journal of Development Studies 45(3), 2009, 391-411

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Satoshi Shimizutani (2008). "How Do People Cope With Natural Disasters? Evidence from the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake," Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking 40 (2-3), 463-488, 2008.

• Sung Jin Kang and Yasuyuki Sawada (2008). "Credit Crunch and Household Welfare: The Case of the Korean Financial Crisis,” Japanese Economic Review 59(4), 2008: 438-458.

• Jeong-Joon Lee and Yasuyuki Sawada (2007). “The Degree of Precautionary Saving: Re-examination,” Economics Letters 96 (2), 196-201.

• John Akoten, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Keijiro Otsuka (2006). “The Determinants of Credit Access and Its Impacts on Micro and Small Enterprises: The Case of Garment Producers in Kenya,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 54 (4), 927-944.

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2001). 'Secondary Market Efficiency of LDC Bank Loans and International Private Lending, 1985-1993,' Journal of International Money and Finance. 20, 549-562.

• Emmanuel Jimenez and Yasuyuki Sawada (2001). ‘Public for Private: The Relationship between Public and Private School Enrollment in the Philippines,” Economics of Education Review 20, 2001, 389-399.

• Emmanuel Jimenez and Yasuyuki Sawada (1999). 'Do Community Managed Schools Work?: An Evaluation of El Salvador’s EDUCO Program,' World Bank Economic Review 13 (3), September 1999, 415-441.

• Yasuyuki Sawada (1994). 'Are the Heavily Indebted Countries Solvent?  Tests of Intertemporal Borrowing Constraints,' Journal of Development Economics 45, pp. 325-337.

Papers on Suicide Prevention Published in Non-Economics Journals 

• Chen, Joe, Yun Jeong Choi, Kohta Mori, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Saki Sugano, “Those Who Are Left Behind: An Estimate of the Number of Family Members of Suicide Victims in Japan,” Social Indicators Research 94(3), 535-544, 2009.

• Matsubayashi, Tetsuya, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Michiko Ueda, "Does the Installation of Blue Lights on Train Platforms Prevent Suicide?: A Before-and-After Observational Study from Japan," Journal of Affective Disorders 147, 385-388, 2013.

• Matsubayashi, Tetsuya, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Michiko Ueda, “Natural Disasters and Suicide: Evidence from Japan,” Social Science and Medicine 82, 126–133, 2013.

• Matsubayashi, Tetsuya, Michiko Ueda, Yasuyuki Sawada, "The Effect of Public Awareness Campaigns on Suicides: Evidence from Nagoya, Japan," Journal of Affective Disorders 152, 526-529, 2014.

• Matsubayashi, Tetsuay, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Michiko Ueda "Does the Installation of Blue Lights on Train Platforms Shift Suicide to Another Station?: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Affective Disorders 169, pp. 57-60, 2014.

• Joe Chen, Yun Jeong Choi, Kota Mori, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Saki Sugano. "An Analysis of Suicides in Japan, 1997–2007: Changes in Incidence, Persistence, and Age Profiles." Social Indicators Research 121, 253–272, 2015. DOI 10.1007/s11205-014-0635-5. Formerly titled: “The Jump, Inertia, and Juvenization of Suicides in Japan,” CIRJE Discussion Paper Series F-628, July 2009.

• Ueda, Michiko, Tetsuya Matsubayashi, and Yasuyuki Sawada "The effectiveness of installing physical barriers for preventing railway suicides and accidents: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Affective Disorders 178, 1-4, 2015.

• Yong Woon Chung, Sung Jin Kang, Tetsuya Matsubayashi, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Michiko Ueda, "The Effectiveness of Platform Screen Doors for the Prevention of Subway Suicides in South Korea," Journal of Affective Disorders 194, 80-83, 2016.

• Michiko Ueda, Kota Mori, Tetsuya Matsubayashi, and Yasuyuki Sawada. “Tweeting celebrity suicides: Users’ reaction to prominent suicide deaths on Twitter and subsequent increases in actual suicides.” Social Science & Medicine. Available online 28 June, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.06.032 <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953617304082>

Selected Book Chapters and Other Publications

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Lea R. Sumulong (2021). "Macroeconomic Impacts  of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Developing Asia." in  John Beirne, Peter J. Morgan, and Tetsushi Sonobe, eds., COVID-19 Impacts and Policy Options: An Asian Perspective, Asian Development Bank Institute.  

  • The launch webinar recording here.  

• Yasuyuki Sawada (2018). Disasters, Insurance, and Preferences. Ayse K. Üskül and Edited by Shigehiro Oishi, eds., Socio-Economic Environment and Human Psychology: Social, Ecological, and Cultural Perspectives, Oxford University Press.

• Sawada, Y. (2013). The Economic Impact of Earthquakes on Households: Evidence from Japan. In D. Guha-Sapir, & I. Santos (Eds), The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

• Shuhei Aoki & Julen Esteban-Pretel & Tetsuji Okazaki & Yasuyuki Sawada, 2009. "The Role of the Government in Facilitating TFP Growth during Japan's Rapid Growth Era," in “State, Community and Market in Development: Essays in Honour of Yujiro Hayami,” edited by K. Otsuka and K. Kalirajan, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

• “Agricultural Technology and Children’s Occupational Choice in the Philippines,” with Keijiro Otsuka and Jonna P. Estudillo, in Keijiro Otsuka and Kliappa Kalirajan, eds., Agriculture in Developing Countries: Technology Issues, Sage Publication India Pvt Ltd, 2008.

• Trade, Migration, and Poverty Reduction in the Globalizing Economy: The Case of the Philippines (with Jonna P. Estudillo), presented at the UNU-WIDER Project Meeting,“ Machiko Nissanke and Erik Thorbecke, eds., “Globalization and the Poor in Asia: Can Shared Growth be Sustained?” Palgrave McMillan, 2008.

• “Growth and Poverty Reduction under Globalization: The Systematic Impact of Currency Substitution and Exchange Rate Misalignment,” with Pan A. Yotopoulos in Pan A. Yotopoulos and Donato Romano, eds., the Asymmetries of Globalization, Routledge Studies in Development Economics, 2007. 

• “Decentralization of Education, Teacher Behavior, and Outcome: The Case of El Salvador’s EDUCO Program (with Andy Ragatz),” in Vegas, Emiliana ed. (2005), Incentives to Improve Teaching: Lessons from Latin America, Directions in Development, World Bank.

WORKS STILL EVOLVING

Papers under R&R

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Yusuke Kuroishi, Toyo Ashida, Jun Aida, Kei Kajisa, Hiroyuki Hikichi, Takahiro Sato, Eduardo Lucio, Katsunori Kondo, Ken Osaka, and Ichiro Kawachi. “Disasters, Scarcity, and Unhealthy Behaviors: Understanding the Mechanisms,” R&R.

• Mahmud, Minhaj, Yasuyuki Sawada, Mai Seki, and Kazuma Takakura (2024). "Self-Learning at the Right Level, COVID-19 School Closure, and Non-cognitive Abilities."  R&R, Economics of Education Review. 

  • ADBI Working Paper Series No. 1441, Asian Development Bank Institute. In this study, we undertake a follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating self-learning at the appropriate level, commonly known as the Kumon Method of Learning. The initial study, as reported by Sawada et al. (2024, Economic Development and Cultural Change), demonstrated the efficacy of this method in enhancing the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of underprivileged students in Bangladesh. As far as our knowledge extends, this research represents one of the scarce attempts on the long-term effects of an educational intervention, even amidst school closures prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Working Papers and Papers in Progress:

• Masahito Ambashi, Naoyuki Haraoka, Fukunari Kimura, Yasuyuki Sawada, Masakazu Toyoda, Shujiro Urata (2025). New Industrial Policies to Achieve Sustainable Asia-Wide Economic Development. ERIA Discussion Paper Series No. 541.

• Albert Park, Yasuyuki Sawada, Menghan Shen, Sangui Wang, Heng Wang, and Ze Wang (2025). "Mental Disorder, Altruism, and Empathy: Experimental Evidence from Middle School Students in Post-Earthquake Sichuan, China." CIRJE DP F-1239 and CREPE DP 166, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, submitted.

  • This paper investigates how exposure to a mentally disordered peer influences middle school students' social preferences after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Leveraging random classroom assignments, height-based seating, and lab-in-the-field experiments, the study finds that having a disabled peer significantly increases altruism, primarily driven by empathy among students with shared trauma. These results underscore the role of peer effects in fostering social cohesion and prosocial behaviors, highlighting a self-recovery mechanism that may mitigate secondary trauma and enhance welfare.

• Takuma Kunieda, Keisuke Okada, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Akihisa Shibata (2025). "The Green Revolution, Structural Transformation, and Economic Development via Market Mechanisms."

  • This paper explores the role of market mechanisms and price adjustments in structural transformation and economic development, focusing on the Green Revolution. Using theoretical insights on equilibrium market prices, we employ shift-share (Bartik) instrumental variables to address endogeneity in relative prices. Empirical results show that while the Green Revolution enhanced agricultural productivity, lowered crop prices, and shifted labor to non-agriculture, market imperfections and price distortions exacerbated misallocation—measured by the Price-Based Misallocation (PBM) index—diminishing its overall benefits. Realizing the Green Revolution’s full potential requires well-functioning market mechanisms, highlighting the need for institutional reforms and targeted policies to correct inefficiencies and optimize agricultural innovation gains.

• Jun Goto, Hironori Ishizaki, Takashi Kurosaki, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Shunsuke Tsuda (2025). "Old and New India: The Behavioral Foundations of Misallocation Among Delhi Entrepreneurs Using Experimental and Non-Experimental Data."

• Soyoung Kim, Yuki Higuchi, Kei Kajisa, and Yasuyuki Sawada. "Infrastructure and Structural Transformation: Evidence from Satellite, Administrative, and Multi-Generation Household Data in a Developing Country." CREPE DP 161, submitted.

  • Despite emerging academic interest in place-based policies, their impact on long-term structural transformation remains under-investigated, especially in developing countries. This study explores the combined effects of infrastructure development (highway, industrial park, and school establishments) in transforming agrarian communities in the Philippines using 40 years of family dynasty data, combined with satellite imagery and public administrative data. The results suggest that infrastructure development has led to long-lasting structural transformations by increasing the probability of employment in modern sectors and facilitating human capital investments. Both the demand and supply sides of labor are key to self-sustaining modernization through place-based policies.

• Emily Beam, Lasse Brune, Dean Karlan, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Christopher Udry "Productive Asset Transfers and Coaching Can Improve Livelihoods of People in Extreme Poverty in the Philippines," project page, Innovations for Poverty Action. 

  • Impact Evaluation of the Graduation of the Ultra-Poor Pilot in the Philippines Report - Endline Survey, April 2022. 

• Yutaro Izumi, Hiroyuki Nakata, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Kunio Sekiguchi (2024) "Building Business Resilience to Disasters." CIRJE DP F-1223 and CREPE DP 151

  • We study the impacts of natural disasters on corporate disaster risk management. Using unique plant-level data from Thailand collected after the 2011 floods. We find that inundation/direct loss experience stimulates flood risk awareness and encourages plants to develop a business continuity plan (BCP), but indirect loss experience does not. We also find evidence consistent with the existence of nonnegligible fixed costs in BCP development. Furthermore, subscription to flood insurance amongst plants with inundation/direct loss experience dropped after the floods, suggesting that a BCP acts as a critical substitute for insurance as part of disaster risk management strategies.

  • Older versions:

    • Yutaro Izumi, Hiroyuki Nakata, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Kunio Sekiguchi. "Is Experience the Best Teacher? Building Business Resilience in Post-2011-Floods Thailan." 

    • NAKATA Hiroyuki & SAWADA Yasuyuki & SEKIGUCHI Kunio, 2014. "Disasters and Risk Perception: Evidence from Thailand Floods," RIETI Discussion Papers 14028, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

• Atsuko Izumi, Yasuyuki Sawada, Yasutora Watanabe, and Yesim Elhan-Kayalar (2023). "Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Digital Platforms, and Competition Policies in Asia." ADB Economics Working Paper Series No. 704.

• Yesim Elhan-Kayalar, Konstantin Kucheryavyy, Manabu Nose, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Ruo Shangguan (2023). "Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Investments Using Customs Data: The Case of the Greater Mekong Subregion Corridor and the People’s Republic of China." ADB Economics Working Paper Series No. 710.

• Jun Goto, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Takeshi Aida (2023). "Conformity of Social Preferences through Regular Interactions: Field Experiments in the Workplace," 2023, SSRN Working Paper.

• Hisaki Kono, Minhaj Mahmud, Naoko Mitsuyama, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Tomomi Tanaka "Nudging by Beauty: Improving Women’s Health Decisions and Well-being in the Field,"

• Eugenia C. Go, Kentaro Nakajima, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Kiyoshi Taniguchi (2022) "On the Use of Satellite-Based Vehicle Flows Data to Assess Local Economic Activity: The Case of Philippine Cities." ADB Working Paper Series No. 652.

• Xinming Du, Elaine S. Tan, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Yesim Elhan-Kayalar (2022). "Economic Impact of COVID-19 Containment Policies: Evidence Based on Novel Surface Heat Data from the People’s Republic of China." ADB Economics Working Paper Series No. 673.

• Christopher James Cabuay, Yasuyuki Sawada, Elaine Tan, Arturo Martinez, Jr., Daniel Boller, Joseph Albert Nino Bulan, and Ron Lester Durante. "COVID-19, Food Relief, and Social Distancing:  Evidence from the Bayan Bayanihan Program in the Philippines."

  • Bayan Bayanihan Program

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Keiko Iwasaki, and Toyo Ashida. "Disaster Exposure, Present Bias, and Depression: An Empirical Investigation."

  • An older version) Sawada, Yasuyuki, Keiko Iwasaki and Toyo Ashida (2018) "Disasters Aggravate Present Bias Causing Depression: Evidence from the Great East Japan Earthquake" CIRJE Discussion Paper F-1100, University of Tokyo.

  • Japan Agency for Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES)

• Sachiko Miyata, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Kazuma Takakura (2022) "Rise and Fall of New Technology: Quasi-experimental Evidence from a Developing Country"  CREPE Discussion Paper No. 120, University of Tokyo, submitted.

  • An older version: Sachiko Miyata and Yasuyuki Sawada "Learning, Risk, and Credit in Households' New Technology Investments: The Case of Aquaculture in Rural Indonesia" The Eighth International Convention of East Asian Economic Association (EAEA) held in Kuala Lumpur on 4-5 November 2002;  and Northeast Universities Development Consortium Conference (NEUDC) 2007 at Center for International Development, Harvard University, 26-27 October 2007

• Md Amzad Hossain, Mohammad Abdul Malek, and Yasuyuki Sawada (2023). “Shocks and Brave Farmers: Evidence from a Randomized Agricultural Microfinance Experiment in Bangladesh.” CIRJE Discussion Paper F-1219, University of Tokyo.

  • In developing countries, insurance products against various climate and non-climate-related shocks targeting farmers are still largely unavailable. We implement a large-scale randomized experiment of a customized microcredit program for small farmers in Bangladesh to explore the role of credit as an insurance mechanism. We show that the program enhanced the resilience of tenant farmers to adverse shocks by facilitating greater credit utilization. This enabled farmers to be more independent in crop-farming activities, encouraged technology adoption, and increased income from crop-farming activities. These results highlight the effectiveness of expanding credit as a tool for institutions to support households susceptible to shocks.

• Manabu Nose, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Tung Nguyen. "From Battlefield to Marketplace: Connectivity, Industrialization, and Spatial Convergence in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region."

• Mari Tanaka and Yasuyuki Sawada, A Scarce but Trustworthy Workforce? Family Labor in the Lao Textile Industry.

• "Mosquito Nets, Malaria Infection, and Schooling in a Developing Country," with Junichi Yamasaki and Hidehiko Ichimura

• "Do Middle and Vocational Schools Foster Meritocracy? Historical Evidence from Japan," with Hidehiko Ichimura, Mari Tanaka, and Yutaro Takayasu

• Nobuhiko Fuwa, Kei Kajisa, Eduardo Lucio, Sharon Faye Piza, and Yasuyuki Sawada “Hyperbolic Discounting and a Technology-induced Informal Credit Institution: The Case of Debit Card Pawning in the Philippines.”

• Malek, Mohammad Abdul & Kikkawa, Aiko & Azad, Abul Kalam & Sawada, Yasuyuki (2022). "Rural Development in Bangladesh Over Four Decades: Findings from Mahabub Hossain Panel Data and the Way Forward," ADBI Working Papers 1350, Asian Development Bank Institute.

• Nguyen Doan,  Canh Phuc Nguyen, Ilan Noy, and Yasuyuki Sawada (2020) "The Economic Impacts of a Pandemic: What Happened after SARS in 2003?" CESifo Working Paper No. 8687.

• Hisaki Kono, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Abu S. Shonchoy (2016), "DVD-based Distance-learning Program for University Entrance Exams: RCT Experiments in Rural Bangladesh," IDE Discussion Paper No.580, Institute for Developing Economies.

  • On "e-Education program" we evaluated using an RCT.   

  • A media program featuring e-Education program and our evaluation study: TBS TV Channel in Japan. 

• Jun Goto, Yasuyuki Sawada, Takeshi Aida and Keitaro Aoyagi (2015) "Incentives and Social Preferences: Experimental Evidence from a Seemingly Inefficient Traditional Labor Contract" CIRJE Discussion Paper F-961, University of Tokyo.

  • Farm Household Panel Surveys of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) 

• Nose, Sakuya and Yasuyuki Sawada (2008), “Consumption Insurance against Unforeseen Epidemics: The Case of Avian Influenza in Vietnam.” 

• Sawada, Yasuyuki, Hiroyuki Yamada, and Takashi Kurosaki, “Is Aid Allocation Consistent with Global Poverty Reduction? A Cross-Donor Comparison,” presented at the UNU-WIDER conference on Aid: Principles, Policies and Performance, Helsinki, Finland, June 17, 2006.

• Sawada, Yasuyuki 'Income Risks, Gender and Human Capital Investment in a Developing Country,' CIRJE Discussion Paper F Series 198, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.

• Yasuyuki SAWADA & Fauziah ZEN, 2014. "Disaster Management in ASEAN," ERIA Working Papers DP-2014-03, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).

• SAWADA Yasuyuki & NAKATA Hiroyuki & SEKIGUCHI Kunio, 2014. "Natural Disasters, Land Price, and Location of Firms: Evidence from Thailand," RIETI Discussion Papers 14029, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).

• Hiroyuki Nakata, Mari Tanaka, and Yasuyuki Sawada (2010) "Entropy Characterisation of Insurance Demand: Theory and Evidence" RIETI Discussion Paper 10-E-009.

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Hirohisa Kohama, and Hisaki Kono “Aid, Policies, and Growth: A Further Investigation,” an experts research workshop on “Quantifying the Impact of Rich Countries’ Policies on Poor Countries” at the Center for Global Development (CGD), October 23–24, 2003..

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Pan A. Yotopoulos “Corner Solutions, Crises, and Capital Controls: Theory and Empirical Analysis on the Optimal Exchange Rate Regime in Emerging Economics,” Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Paper No. 04-037. This is a revised version of ‘Currency Substitution, Speculation, and BOP Crisis: Theory and Empirical Analysis (with Pan A. Yotopoulos),’  Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No. 99-5, Stanford University, December 1999; ESRI Discussion Paper Series No. 7, Economic and Social Research Institute, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 2001

• Takashi Kurosaki & Yasuyuki Sawada & Asit Banerji & S.N. Mishra, 2007. "Rural-Urban Migration and Urban Poverty: Socio-Economic Profiles of Rickshaw Pullers and Owner-Contractors in North-East Delhi," CIRJE Discussion Papers F-Series CIRJE-F-485, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.

• Yasuyuki Sawada, Hirohisa Kohama, Hisaki Kono, and Munenobu Ikegami “Commitment to Development Index (CDI): Critical Comments,” Discussion Paper on Development Assistance No.1, FASID, Tokyo, 2004.

• Hidehiko Ichimura, Yasuyuki Sawada, and Satoshi Shimizutani. “Risk Coping against an Earthquake: The Case of Yamakoshi Village.” Paper presented at the International Workshop on Consumption, March 19, 2007, at Hitotsubashi University, Kunitachi, 2007.

• Keiko Osaki, Mika Ueyama, Tomoko Hattori, Soewarta Kosen, and Yasuyuki Sawada (2011), “Positive effect of use of the Maternal and Child Health Handbook on maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes: evidence from Indonesia,” mimeographed, JICA Research Institute, 2010.

• SAWADA Yasuyuki & Rima BHATTCHARYAY & KOTERA Tomoaki, 2011. "Aggregate Impacts of Natural and Man-made Disasters: A quantitative comparison," RIETI Discussion Papers 11023, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI)..

• Sawada, Yasuyuki & Higuchi, Yuki & Kajisa, Kei & Fuwa, Nobuhiko & Marciano, Esther B. & Estudillob, Jonna P., 2012. "The East Laguna Village: Four Decades of Studies in a Filipino Village," PRIMCED Discussion Paper Series 18, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, 2012.

• Yasuyuki Sawada and Takaharu Ishii (2012), “Do Community-Managed Schools Facilitate Social Capital Accumulation? Evidence from the COGES Project in Burkina-Faso,” JICA Research Institute Working Paper  No.42

• Jun Goto, Takeshi Aida, Keitaro Aoyagi, and Yasuyuki Sawada (2011), “Incentives and Social Preferences in a Traditional Labor Contract: Evidence from Rice Planting Experiments in the Philippines,“ presented at NEUDC 2011 at Yale University; International Food Policy Research Institute; 2012 Asia-Pacific ESA Conference at Xiamen University; Singapore Management University; Theoretical Economics and Agriculture (TEA); and Yokohama National University.

• Kamal Lamichhane, Yuhei Miyauchi, and Yasuyuki Sawada “Can Integrated Education Reduce Discrimination Toward Persons with Disabilities? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Nepal,” presented at 2012 Asia-Pacific ESA Conference at Xiamen University; University of Tokyo., 2012.

• Yasuyuki Sawda, “A Note on the World Development Report 2013 Jobs: A Bangladesh Case Study,” BIDS, BRAC, and JICA Research Institute for World Bank, March 2012.

• Yasuyuki Sawada 'Community Participation, Teacher Effort, and Educational Outcome in El Salvador,'  Davidson Institute Working Paper Series No. 307, the William Davidson Institute, University of Michigan Business School, 1999, FASID Discussion Paper Series on International Development Strategies 2002-01, FASID.