International Development Policy (Winter 2026)
updated Jan.27, 2026


Course Number
GEN 3000E  / GEN 8001E
Instructor
Izumi Ohno (email: i-ohno@grips.ac.jp)
Term Winter, Monday 16:40-18:10 and Thursday 16:40-18:10
Lecture Room: E

 

Course Description and the Learning Objectives

(This course is related to all goals of the SDGs, with special attention to Goals 1, 8, 9, 17 (poverty, decent work & economic growth, industry, and partnerships) of the SDGs.)

This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of international development policy through reading and discussing recent papers and reports, with special attention to global transformation. The course is offered through a mix of lectures and workshops. Students will learn a range of international development topics and contemporary policy debates, including the 2030 agenda for sustainable development (Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs). The East Asian perspectives of aid and development will also be introduced.

International development has undergone significant changes over the last decades with the progress of globalization. The East Asian economies have achieved rapid growth with poverty reduction, while fragile states continue to struggle with the challenges of nation building. Development agenda have become increasingly complex, and new actors such as emerging donors, civil society, and the business community, are now important players in development. Such global transformation presents challenges to the traditional approach to development and aid.

Through this course, students will acquire knowledge of theoretical and practical aspects of international development policy and development cooperation. They will also gain ability to analyze and make practical solutions to development challenges the world and developing countries face.

Relevant diploma policy (DP):  
- EPP (1)(2)(3)(4), AIP(1)(3), MSP(1) /
G-Cube (1)(2)
- 国際協力コース(2)(3)、地域政策コース(2)、インフラコース(2)(4)、防災・危機管理コース(5)、農業政策コース(2)、科学技術イノベーション政策コース(2)、まちづくりコース(2)、地域創造・金融コース(1)、文化産業・地域創造コース(2)
- Regardless of the above, students from all the programs are welcome to register for this course.

Course Outline
The first few lectures will give an overview of the evolution of international development policy and development cooperation. Workshops include student presentations and discussions. At each class, one or two students will present the main points of pre-assigned policy-related reports or papers and share his/her perspectives, based on the assigned readings. In some lectures, guest speakers with first-hand experience of development cooperation and policymaking will be invited to interact with students.

 

Requirements
-
Students are expected to have basic knowledge of international development. 
- Prior to the class, students are required to read the lecture materials and related literature and actively contribute to presentations and discussions.
- After the class, students are required to review the main points of the lecture.

- For student workshops, they shall prepare power point slides for presentations. In preparation, they will study the assigned literature.

Grading
- Class attendance and participation (40%), presentation of the assigned readings (30%), and a paper on international development (30%). 
- The quality of participation and presentation matters. The guidelines of term papers will be announced at the class.
- Late arrival and absence from class will count negatively. Absence without prior notification is not allowed.

[Grading criteria]
 
A: Achieved the goal at a high level
  B: Achieved the goal at a satisfactory level
  C: Achieved the goal at a generally acceptable level
  D: Achieved the goal at a minimum acceptable level
  E: Did not achieve the goal

 

 Date

Topic

Reference

2/2

Mon

Orientation and overview:
Evolution of international development policy

Lecture 1

2/5

Thur

Development cooperation policy of major donors and the rise of global south

Lecture 2

2/9

Mon

Japanese approach to development cooperation (1): History & philosophy

Lecture 3

2/12

Thur

Japanese approach to development cooperation (2): Policy & practices

Lecture 4

2/16

Mon

Special Lecture (1): Evaluation of ODA projects (Ms. Masumi Shimamura, Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting)

Guest L.

2/19

Thur

Special Lecture (2): Sustainable infrastructure development (Dr. Kei Endo, Senior Research Fellow, JICA Ogata Research Institute)

Guest L.

2/26

Thur

Special lecture (3): Overcoming the middle income traps: the importance of leadership, technocrats and policy quality (Prof. Emeritus Kenichi Ohno)

Guest L.

3/2

Mon Aid and development: critique of aid/ does aid work? Workshop

3/5

Thur

Fragile states, conflicts and development

Workshop

3/9

Mon

The role of government in catch-up and structural transformation

Workshop

3/12

Thur

Technology transfer: how nations learn / the case of Japan as an aid recipient

Workshop

3/16

Mon

Emerging donors and their impacts on international development / geopolitics and development

Workshop

3/19

Thur

Age of globalization: development challenges for 21st century

Workshop

3/23

Mon

Migrants, refugees, and societies

Workshop

3/26

Thur

Co-creating knowledge for sustainable, inclusive and resilient development (Wrap up)

Lecture 5, Discussion
& Wrap up

Note: 1) Topics and dates may be reordered to accommodate guest speakers or for other reasons. 
                 2) The deadline of term paper submission will be notified later.

 

Textbooks and References
The following literature will be
made available on Prof. Izumi Ohno's website. Students are required to read relevant literature, prior to the class. (In the case of books, specific chapters will be selected and assigned for readings.)
 

For lectures

1.  Takamasa Akiyama, “Evolution of Ideas on Development,” Ch.2 in International Development Assistance: Evolution and Prospects, FASID, 2003.

2.  Hiroshi Kato, “Japan’s ODA 1954-2014: Changes and Continuities in a Central Instrument in Japan’s Foreign Policy,” Ch.1 in Japan’s Development Assistance: Foreign Aid and the Post-2015 Agenda eds. Hiroshi Kato, John Page, and Yasutami Shimomura.

3.  Shigeru Ishikawa, “Supporting Growth and Poverty Reduction: Toward Mutual Learning from the British Model in Africa and the Japanese Model in East Asia,” GRIPS Development Forum Discussion Paper, No.9, March 2005.

4Toru Yanagihara, “Development and Dynamic Efficiency: Framework Approach vs. Ingredients Approach,” Ch.4 in Japanese Views on Economic Development: Diverse Paths to the Market, eds. Kenichi and Izumi Ohno, Routledge, 1998.

5.  Saburo Okita, The Developing Economies and Japan: Lessons in Growth, University of Tokyo Press, 1980 (esp. “Developing Economies and the Japanese Experience” (pp.93-104), “Causes and Problems of Rapid Growth in Postwar Japan and Their Implications for Newly Developing Economies” (pp.105-147)

6.  Izumi Ohno and Kenichi Ohno, "Eastern and Western Ideas for African Growth," in The World Financial Review, July/Aug. 2013.

7.  Izumi Ohno, "An Overview: Diversity and Complementarity in Development Efforts," Ch.1 and "The Japanese Approach to Growth Support in Developing Countries," Ch.7 in Eastern and Western Ideas for African Growth, eds. Kenichi and Izumi Ohno, Routledge, 2013.

8.  Izumi Ohno and Kenichi Ohno, “Dynamic Capacity Development: What Africa Can Learn from Industrial Policy Formulation in East Asia,” Ch.7 in Good Growth and Governance in Africa: Rethinking Development Strategies, eds. Noman et. al, The Initiative for Policy Dialogue Series, Oxford University Press, 2012.

Izumi Ohno, “Network-based Development Cooperation as a Way Forward for Japan,” Ch.10 in Japanese Development Cooperation: The Making of an Aid Architecture Pivoting to Asia, eds. Andre Asplund and Marie Soderberg, Routledge, 2017.

10. Izumi Ohno and Sayoko Uesu, "New Partnership with the Private Sector in Japanese Development Cooperation," Ch. 7 in International Development Cooperation of Japan and South Korea: New Strategies for an Uncertain World, eds. Huck-ju Kwon, Tatsufumi Yamagata, Eunju Kim, Hisahiro Kondoh, Palgrave MacMillan, 2022.

11. Izumi Ohno, "Introducing Foreign Models for Development: A Perspective from Translative Adaptation, " Ch.1 in Introducing Foreign Models for Development: Japanese Experience and Cooperation in the Age of New Technology, eds. Izumi Ohno, Kimiaki Jin, Kuniaki Amatsu, and Junichi Mori, Springer, 2023.


For student workshops
(The below is a tentative list. Professor Ohno will consult with individual students regarding the assigned readings & presentation topics. Students can propose alternative readings, as relevant.)

1.  Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid: Why Aid is not Working and How There is a better Way for Africa, 2009, Part I (Ch.1-4), Part II  (Ch.5&10)

2.  Richard Jolly and Ricardo Santos, “From Development of the Otherto Global Governance for Universal and Sustainable Development” in Development Studies: Past, Present and Future, IDS Bulletin Vol.47, No.2, May 2016. 

3.  The World Bank, Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why, A World Bank Policy Research Report, 1998. (esp. Overview)

4.  Dragon Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, New York: Currency, 2012 (Ch.2, 3, 15). Also, see, "The Role of Institutions in Growth and Development," Review of Economics and Institutions, 1(2) Article 1, 2020.

5.  Paul Collier, The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, Oxford University Press, 2007. (Ch.7-10)

6. World Bank and UN, Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflicts (esp. Executive Summary, Ch.1), 2018.

7.  Justin Yifu Lin and Jun Zhang, “Learning to Catch up in a Globalized World,” Ch.8 in How Nations Learn: Technological Learning, Industrial Policy, and Catch-up, eds. Arkebe Oqubay and Kenichi Ohno, Oxford University Press, 2019.

8.  Robert H. Wade, “Rethinking Industrial Policy for Low Income Countries,” African Development Bank, 2009.

9.  Jose Edgardo Campos and Hilton L. Root, "Leadership and the Economic Bureaucracy," Ch.6&7 and "Wooing the Business Sector," Ch.4 in The Key to the Asian Miracle: Making Shared Growth Credible, The Brookings Institution, 1996.

10. Mikiyasu Nakayama and Ryo Fujikura, “Technology Transfer and Technology Development in Post-World War II Japan Triggered by World Bank Projects," Ch.4 in The Rise of Asian Donors, eds. J. Sato and Y. Shimomura, Routledge, 2012.

11. Kenichi Ohno, “Meiji Japan: Progressive Learning of Western Technology,” Ch.5 in How Nations Learn: Technological Learning, Industrial Policy, and Catch-up, eds. Arkebe Oqubay and Kenichi Ohno, Oxford University Press, 2019.

12. Rachael Calleja, Beata Cichocka, and Sara Casadevall Belles, "How Do Non-DAC Actors Cooperate on Development?" CGD Policy Paper 294, May 2023.

13. Samantha Custer, Ana Horigoshi, and Kelsey Marshal, “Responding to Global South Views on Development Priorities, Progress and Partner Performance,” Ch.18 in Development Co-operation Report 2023: Debating the Aid System, OECD, 2023

14. Christophe Dorigné-Thomson and Joanne Lin, “Catalysing Cooperation ASEAN-Africa Relations and South-South”, ISEAS Perspective, Issue No. 8, Feb. 2025.

15. Andy Sumner and Stephan Klingebiel, “Development Cooperation at a Tipping Point: How, Why and Through What Mechanisms Do Policy Norms Break?,” IDOS Policy Brief, 29/2025

16. Jeffrey D. Sachs, The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions, Columbia University Press (esp. Ch.1, Ch.8 & Ch.9), 2020. 

17. World Bank, World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work (esp. Overview, Ch.1, Ch.2 & Ch.7), 2019. 

18.  World Bank, World Development Report 2024: The Middle-Income Trap (esp. Overview), 2024.

19. Business and Sustainable Development Commission, Better Business, Better World, January 2017.

20. World Bank, World Development Report 2023: Migrants, Refugees, and Societies (esp. Overview), 2023.

21. World Bank, Making Refugees Self-Reliance Work: From Aid to Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2025 (esp. Executive Summary).

 

Auditing: Allowed