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Aiko Kikkawa

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Economist

Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

MA (’13) and Ph.D. in International Development Studies (’17)

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Please tell us about your career path so far. What is your area of specialization and how did you come to work in this area?

The theme central to my career path is international migration and cross-border movement of workers. It all started with my college years and my volunteering experience offering work-related counseling service for foreign migrant workers in Japan. The volunteers interviewed migrants, investigated cases, file claims, and negotiated with employers to collect unpaid salary and other compensations. I have come to know that migrants work very hard in a very challenging environment. ?

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Upon graduation, I became a civil servant for the City of Yokohama and implemented the city program for foreign residents, which then led me to pursue a multidisciplinary master’s degree on migration in the UK. During this program, I learned how international movement of people results in cross-cultural encounters, generates new values and innovations, and promotes tolerance, but it could also raise social and political tensions. My time in the UK coincided with the period in which many elections of European countries were fought on the line of immigration policies (and still do, to date!). I witnessed how the topic can divide or unit people and communities.

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A photo from my assignment at the IOM Regional Office in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when we organized a regional staff training program on the theme of migration and development in 2007.

I went on to work for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the next 10 years during which I lived in many different parts of the world (Switzerland, Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines) and developed technical assistance programs on overseas employment policies, remittances management, and disaster relief operation targeting mobile population. I have been fortunate to have been able to find work in this area for many years and learn how different countries of origin and destination of migrants deal with the opportunity and the challenges presented by migration. I am grateful for the support of my families, colleagues, and friends in this journey.

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What led you to GRIPS? What is the most important thing you got out of your studies here?

During my last years at IOM, I led a technical assistance program that aimed to channel worker’s remittances for the development of the origin countries of migrants. We surveyed on migrants’ remittance behavior and introduced financial literacy training in the Philippines and Indonesia. Here, I came across great work of economists in this area and learned that economics offer very useful tools to assess the impact of remittances on development and to rigorously test the effectiveness of different methods of pertaining financial literacy among migrants. That said, I could not fully grasp the methodology because I had no prior training in economics. As I became more and more interested in those works, I started to look up various Ph.D. programs on development economics. It did not take me very long to find GRIPS. I thought it offered a very attractive program led by reputable scholars in the field.? ?

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With Otsuka sensei right after my defense in January 2017.

I may be one of the students with the longest period of active enrollment in GRIPS. I have completed my masters’ and Ph.D. program in development studies/economics. ?Over the course of seven years, with some breaks with the birth of my children, I enjoyed attending classes, collaborating with fellow students on projects, attending study groups, keynote lectures and seminars, going on survey trips, and many more. It was such a refreshing experience to be back in an academic environment after a decade of working life. What I appreciated about GRIPS, among many other things, is that professors are very enthusiastic and dedicated to academic research and to mentoring students to excel in their work. ?I have not only learned about economic theories and techniques from them, but also the importance of maintaining enthusiasm and perseverance in conducting research.

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In this regard, I am particularly thankful to Prof Keijiro Otsuka who was my doctoral thesis advisor. His enthusiasm and dedication to development economics is rock-hard and I very much admire his work. I enjoyed my thesis writing years and never felt disoriented because of his continued guidance in promptly but mutinously reviewing my work. ?When my manuscript gets rejected for publication (not just once but many times!), he continued to encourage me not to give it up.

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You are currently serving as Economist at ADB’s Economic Research and Cooperation Department. What are your current research interests and what excites you most about your research?

I joined ADB in April 2017, right after my graduation from GRIPS in March the same year. It coincided with the 50th anniversary of ADB.

At ADB, I continue to carry out research on international migration and remittances. ADB member countries find it increasingly important to enhance knowledge in the area in order to foster regional integration and cooperation. I also conduct research on aging and demographic change and recently launched ADB’s flagship publication, Asian Economic Integration Report (AEIR) 2019/20, Demographic Change, Productivity and the Role of Technology. The study looks at ways in which technology sustains and raises the productivity of an aging and declining workforce. ADB works closely with leading research institutions and scholars to carry out studies and it has been a great experience collaborating with leading experts on a number of research initiatives and also see the policy recommendations being appreciated and adopted by policy makers and practitioners across the region. Another research area I cover includes gender and economic analysis of new and ongoing ADB-financed programs.

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What are your professional goals for the next five to ten years?

At ADB, we organize conferences and seminars to share knowledge and disseminate our work. This seminar was held at Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI), Tokyo in Nov 2019 to launch our new report on population aging and the role of technology.

I hope to continue a building research portfolio on the issue of international migration and remittance within ADB as the topic is becoming increasingly important but often being under-studied especially among some of the member countries. Aside from this, I hope to provide useful knowledge towards a solution to make our loan programs effective and impactful, for example in the form of impact evaluation or survey-based analysis that measures and estimates the outcome of proposed loans. Our Chief Economist (Prof. Yasuyuki Sawada) actively promotes an evidence-based policy making process within ADB and I would also like to contribute to the goal.

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How do you maintain a balance between your work and the rest of your life? And what is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?

I have two young daughters, so balancing work and life is a critical personal agenda. I am curious, enthusiastic, and forward-looking in my research but also remain very cautious in managing my workload. It is not easy at times but my take on this is that we have long working years ahead in this longevity era if we can maintain our health. There really is no need to rush. This realization becomes even stronger as I continue my research on the topic of aging and employment of older persons.? Since the outbreak of pandemic and prolonged work-from-home period, I started to wake up early to do some routine like jogging, meditating, reading and keeping a journal. I feel these activities give me a lot of the energy I need for work and the family.

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How would you like to maintain involved with the School? What do you expect from GRIPS as an alumnus, and do you have any suggestions on how to further utilize the GRIPS alumni network?

When they hear that I will not be able to attend the graduation ceremony, GRIPS’s staff was kind to arrange a photo session with this special gown.

I hope to continue maintaining a close relationship with GRIPS which stands as a center for excellence in high-impact research. It is in this spirit that I reached out to GRIPS to discuss the possibility of organizing an event jointly. ?Much thanks to the support of the former GRIPS Vice President Tetsushi Sonobe, ADB and GRIPS co-organized a seminar to discuss the state of economic integration in November 2019. As a GRIPS alumnus, it was a wonderful experience coordinating the event.? I hope I can contribute to further strengthening the collaboration between ADB and GRIPS. ?

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On a more personal level, I regularly encounter GRIPS alumni among the ADB staff pool, research collaborators, and also among government counterparts. The sense of common affiliation to GRIPS renders an instant connection and creates a smooth working relationship. I am most grateful for this and it is priceless. Active social media-based networking facilitated by the GRIPS Alumni Office is an excellent way to keeping alumni who spread across the world connected. I am also interested to connect to current students who may be interested in pursuing careers in the field that I am in.

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