The purpose of this study project is to explore the change made by international volunteers to people in developing countries and its influence on the shaping of global civil society, from perspectives of social sciences and humanities.
This study selected the case of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) and discussed that the JOCV program was effective in development cooperation, depending on the concepts of social capital and capacity development. Further, it examined the reciprocity defined as a feeling that volunteers as service provider are given something in return by local people through their JOCV activities.
Also, this study addressed the issues of returned volunteers’ career path and their contribution to Japanese society and comparison between JOCV and similar programs in other countries. Finally we concluded that JOCV contributed to shaping the global civil society.

The research purposes to understand the nature of intergroup contact that leads to reconciliation among people in post-conflict societies. It examined interpersonal processes of the intergroup contacts during the skills training for three groups of ex-combatants and civilians with disability in Rwanda, who were either victims or perpetrators during the genocide, and tested what kind of interpersonal process reduces fear and increases trust among the groups.
The field-laboratory experiment found that the impact of self-disclosure during the intergroup contact differs depending on the nature of intergroup relations (e.g., socio-economic status asymmetry and victim-perpetrator relationship). I am further analyzing datasets from large-scale questionnaire surveys, behavioral economics experiments, and semi-structed interviews with ex-trainees to synthesis all of the research findings.

This study seeks to contribute to development economics and policies by showing rigorous evidence through field and natural experiments in multiple developing countries. The study covered Cambodia, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Peru. It consisted of 5 projects based on the data which had been collected and constructed and 4 projects involving the collection of new micro data. These projects share the following themes: the poor’s vulnerability to shocks such as political violence, disease, disability, and disaster; socio-political institutions related to poverty and development such as political power, ethnicity, and social network; and their relationships.