[Faculty of Global Management] This semester also, Dr. Tomoko Utsuki from Soka University gave a special lecture at Microeconomics course (instructor: George Wang)

Dr. Tomoko Utsumi is a respected academic who currently holds the positions of Associate Dean and Associate Professor at the Faculty of International Liberal Arts, Soka University. She earned her Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota, an M.A. in Economics from New York University, and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Soka University of America. Throughout her career, Dr. Utsumi has held key research and consultancy roles, including at the World Bank, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT, and the Economic and Social Research Institute within Japan’s Cabinet Office.

The speech "Analyzing Development Issues from an Applied Microeconomic Perspective" by Dr. Tomoko Utsumi explores how behavioral economics can address development challenges in low- and middle-income countries. It highlights deviations from traditional economic models, focusing on human tendencies like present bias, which lead to underutilization of affordable health measures and difficulties in saving. Behavioral insights, such as small incentives and structured savings systems like ROSCAs, are presented as effective solutions.