Stanford University

International Development

FSI researchers consider international development from a variety of angles. They analyze ideas such as how public action and good governance are cornerstones of economic prosperity in Mexico and how investments in high school education will improve China’s economy.

They are looking at novel technological interventions to improve rural livelihoods, like the development implications of solar power-generated crop growing in Northern Benin.

FSI academics also assess which political processes yield better access to public services, particularly in developing countries. With a focus on health care, researchers have studied the political incentives to embrace UNICEF’s child survival efforts and how a well-run anti-alcohol policy in Russia affected mortality rates.

FSI’s work on international development also includes training the next generation of leaders through pre- and post-doctoral fellowships as well as the Draper Hills Summer Fellows Program.

Break Through: Women in Silicon Valley, Womenomics in Japan Final Report

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On August 9, 2018, the Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center (APARC) hosted a conference, “Break Through: Women in Silicon Valley, Womenomics in Japan" with support from the Acceleration Program in Tokyo for Women (APT). Women thought-leaders and entrepreneurs from Stanford, Silicon Valley, and Japan came together to discuss innovative ideas for narrowing the gender gap, and cultivated interpersonal support networks and collaboration across the Pacific. The report, which is an outcome of the conference, offers an analysis and discussion of the themes and takeaways from the day. 

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Japan Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

How and Why Did the Opposition Win in Malaysia? Lessons for Semi-Authoritarian Asia

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Malaysia's ruling National Front (BN) coalition ran one of the most durable authoritarian governments in the world. But in May 2018, a coalition of opposition parties won power, unseating the BN government for the first time in 61 years. In two complementary talks, APARC scholars Sophie Lemière and Sebastian Dettman will examine the roots of this victory in light of the strategies, coalitions, and messianic messages used by the opposition. Using findings from their fieldwork in Malaysia, they will show how and why the opposition parties were successful and draw implications of the victory for Malaysia’s future under its new coalition government. The speakers will also convey broader insights about political competition in Southeast Asia’s semi-authoritarian polities and beyond.    

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Sebastian Dettman completed his doctorate in the Department of Government at Cornell University in 2018. He researches party building, electoral competition, and political representation in newly democratic and authoritarian regimes, with a focus on Southeast Asia. Sebastian has an MA in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Michigan and has worked as a consultant and researcher for organizations including the Asia Foundation, the International Crisis Group, and the Carter Center.

 

 

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Sophie Lemière is a political anthropologist in the Ash Center for Democracy at Harvard University. At Stanford she is working on a political biography of Malaysia’s current prime minister that features his recent election campaign. She is the editor of a series of books on politics and people in Malaysia, including Gangsters and Masters (2019), Illusions of Democracy (2017), and Misplaced Democracy (2014). She has held visiting research positions at universities in Singapore, Australia, and the US. Her PhD is from Sciences-Po in Paris.

 

Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, 3rd Floor
616 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

Sebastian Dettman 2018-19 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow on Contemporary Asia
Sophie Lemière 2018-19 Lee Kong Chian NUS-Stanford Fellow on Contemporary Southeast Asia
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Q&A: Paul Wise and World Bank leader Jim Yong Kim

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Stanford Health Policy's Paul Wise held a conversation with Dr. Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group about improving the health of the poorest communities around the world. The two old friends talked about their work and the keys to accomplishing big goals during the Conversation in Global Health event. Wise is a core faculty member at Stanford Health Policy and the Center for Innovation in Global Health, as well as a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

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A New Perspective on News: The SmartNews Approach and Political Balancing

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In 2012, as giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google began to position themselves as the go-to places to read news, a little-known news app called SmartNews emerged and started gaining popularity in Japan. The SmartNews app has since been dubbed “App of the Year” on Google Play and won the “Best of” award in Apple’s App store, launched US operations in 2014, and now has over 10 million monthly active users in US and Japan.

In the age of fake news and information polarization, SmartNews is working to deliver to users a balanced diet of quality information from trusted journalism sources. The SmartNews news app uses machine learning to deliver curated news from more than 3000 sources and identify fake news. The SmartNews Delivery Algorithm not only considers users’ likes and clicks and other behavior on the app to generate suggestions, but also applies political balancing algorithms to ensure multiple viewpoints are expressed on important topics, and diversification algorithms to help break the filter bubble.

In this public forum, SmartNews Director of Product Management Yuhei Nishioka will talk about SmartNews’ story and growth trajectory, competing in the current news app landscape, and finally, discuss the process and considerations in creating the SmartNews News Delivery Algorithm. Introduction by Rich Jaroslovsky Vice President for Content and Chief Journalist of SmartNews and former Wall Street Journal White House correspondent.

MAIN SPEAKER:

Yuhei Nishioka, Director of Product Management, SmartNews

INTRODUCTION BY:

Rich Jaroslovsky, Vice President for Content and Chief Journalist, SmartNews and former Wall Street Journal White House correspondent

AGENDA:

4:15pm: Doors open
4:30pm-5:30pm: Main Content, followed by discussion
5:30pm-6:00pm: Networking

RSVP REQUIRED:

Register to attend at http://www.stanford-svnj.org/101618-public-forum

For more information about the Silicon Valley-New Japan Project please visit: http://www.stanford-svnj.org/

PARKING ON CAMPUS:

Please note there is significant construction taking place on campus, which is greatly affecting parking availability and traffic patterns at the university. Please plan accordingly.

Yuhei Nishioka, Director of Product Management, SmartNews
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Stanford Silicon Valley-New Japan Project

Reinventing Japan: New Directions in Global Leadership (Book Chapter)

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Highly readable yet deeply researched, this book serves as an essential guide to the many ways in which Japan has risen to become one of the world's most creative and innovative societies.


• Challenges conventional views of Japan as mired in two unproductive "lost decades" by documenting the myriad ways in which the nation has embraced creativity and innovation

• Describes the ways in which Japan has transformed our lives and explains the guiding principles of one of the world's least understood, most vibrantly creative societies

• Explains how Japan, as the world's first non-Western developed nation, can inspire other nations at a time when America's economic and social models are being challenged as never before

• Argues that, in a world that seems to have lost its direction in the face of threats ranging from terrorism to angry populism, Japan can assume greater leadership in preserving global peace and prosperity

Chapter 4 of this book, Departing from Silicon Valley: Japan's New Startup Ecosystem, was written by Shorenstein APARC Research Scholar Kenji Kushida.

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The Politics of Energy and Climate Change in Japan under Abe: Abenergynomics

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Under what we call Abenergynomics, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzō has used energy policy to support the growth objectives of Abenomics, even when the associated policies are publicly unpopular, opposed by utility companies, or harmful to the environment. We show how Abenergynomics has shaped Japanese policy on nuclear power, electricity deregulation, renewable energy, and climate change.

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Asian Survey
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Phillip Lipscy
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Abenomics and Japan's Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Is the Third Arrow Pointed in the Right Direction for Global Competition in the Digital Era of Silicon Valley?

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Given that much of the global leadership in value creation over the past couple of decades has been driven by the Silicon Valley model – not only a geographic region but a distinct ecosystem of complementary characteristics – the basic question this paper asks is how far Japan’s Abenomics reforms are pushing Japan towards being able to compete in an era dominated by Silicon Valley firms. 

To answer this, the first section of this paper looks at content of the third arrow of Abenomics. The second section then distills the Silicon Valley ecosystem into its key characteristics, sorts each of these characteristics according to the underlying institutions to put forth a model, and briefly evaluates whether third arrow reforms move Japan closer to a Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship and innovation.

 

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Kenji E. Kushida

Shipan Lai

616 Serra StreetEncina Hall E301Stanford, CA 94305-6055
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Shipan LAI joined the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) during the 2018-2019 academic year from the School of Political Science and Public Administration at Huaqiao University (Quanzhou, China), where he serves as an associate professor and vice director of MAP (Master of Public Administration) program.

His research interests focus on organizational theory, Chinese state governance and Chinese local government behavior.  He has published several papers and led two research projects in his field.  During his time at Shorenstein APARC, Lai will conduct a study of the relationship between the Chinese local government’s task of economic development and its task of environmental protection.   

Lai holds a PhD in public management from Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou,China). He received his MA and BA in public management, both from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (Wuhan, China).

 

Visiting Scholar at APARC

Toshiaki Iizuka

616 Serra StreetEncina Hall E301Stanford, CA94305-6055
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Toshiaki Iizuka is Professor at Graduate School of Public Policy and Graduate School of Economics, the University of Tokyo. Before joining the University of Tokyo in 2010, he taught at Vanderbilt University (2001-2005), Aoyama Gakuin University (2005-2009), and Keio University (2009-2010). He served as Dean of Graduate School of Public Policy, the University of Tokyo, between 2016 and 2018. He is a recipient of Abe Fellowship (2018-2019). 

His research interests are in the field of health economics and health policy. He has written a number of articles on incentive and information in the health care markets. His research articles have appeared in leading professional journals, including American Economic Review, RAND Journal of Economics, Journal of Health Economics, and Health Affairs, among others. Dr. Iizuka holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MIA from Columbia University, and an ME and BE from the University of Tokyo.
Visiting Scholar, Asia Health Policy Program at APARC

Asia's Development Challenges and Technology

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Asia has achieved remarkable progress on economic development and poverty reduction over the past decades. It is now considered as the main driver of global economic growth and we are witnessing the shift of economic center of gravity toward Asia. Continued success is, however, not preordained or guaranteed. More specifically, the region has to manage several mega-challenges to realize the "Asian Century." These include remaining poverty incidence and increasing inequality, demographic changes, growing environmental pressure, climate change and disaster risk, rapid urbanization, and governance and institutional capacity concern. These increasingly complex challenges pressure Asian countries to take a more sustainable development path, moving away from more traditional development patterns. 

The world is experiencing various technological advancement —including digital and cloud technologies, big data, robotics, artificial intelligence, the internet of things, 3-D printing, blockchain, energy storage, and autonomous vehicles. These technologies will significantly change the way people live and also bring very broad and deep impact on economic and social development landscape. The progress and impacts of technological advancement may be different between developed and developing countries. Will disruptive technologies help developing countries in Asia and the Pacific to solve development challenges or harm their catch-up momentum? What are opportunities and risks posed by emerging technological changes to developing countries in that region? How will developing countries and the international development community prepare to fully harness technological advancements for sustainable development? These are some of the areas to be explored in this seminar.

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Gilhong Kim is currently a visiting scholar in the Korea Program at Shorenstein APARC for the 2018 calendar year. Previously, he was Senior Director concurrently Chief Sector Officer of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department in Asian Development Bank (ADB). His research interests encompass technological development and impact on developing countries in Asia and the Pacific. Dr. Kim has more than 33 years of research and operational experience in country and regional development, sectoral strategies and operations covering clean energy, transport, water supply and sanitation, urban development, education, health and finance. Since 1996, Dr. Kim has worked for ADB in the areas of country economic assessment and country operational program development, corporate strategy and policy development, country field office head (in Lao PDR), sector operational strategy development, operational knowledge management, and promoted technology application and innovative approach.  Before joining ADB, he worked for Ministry of Finance in Korea for about 12 years in the areas of economic cooperation and international finance. He holds a PhD in economics from the University of Texas, Austin, and a BA in economics from Korea University in Korea. 

Philippines Conference Room Encina Hall, 3rd Floor 616 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305

 

Gilhong Kim

616 Serra StreetEncina Hall E301Stanford, CA94305-6055
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Dr. Gilhong Kim joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center for the 2018 year as visiting scholar.  He currently serves as the Senior Director and Chief Sector Officer of the Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at the Asian Development Bank.  He will be conducting research on technological development and impact in the Asia-Pacific.

Visiting Scholar at APARC
<i>Visiting Scholar, Shorenstein APARC, Stanford University</i>
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Korean Studies Colloquium Series
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