Tetsushi Sonobe

Asia’s development problem is changing. The policies that helped economies industrialise and raise incomes cannot simply be repeated indefinitely. Productivity is slowing, populations are ageing, and climate pressures are becoming harder to separate from economic policy. These are the questions Tetsushi Sonobe now examines through his work on industrial policy, rural development and climate adaptation.

Sonobe’s research has taken him into industrial clusters, small businesses and farming communities across Asia and Africa. He has also worked closely with the officials responsible for turning economic ideas into policy. Over his career, he has taught development economics and international cooperation for 22 years, largely to government officials from Asia and Africa.

That practical interest in development policy began early. Sonobe worked as a research assistant at the Development Bank of Japan from 1984 to 1987, an experience that sparked his interest in economic development policy. After earning his PhD in economics from Yale in 1992, he taught development economics and growth at Tokyo Metropolitan University for 11 years.

Tetsushi Sonobe’s most recognised research grew from a long collaboration with economist Keijiro Otsuka. Together, they examined industrial clusters across East Asia and how small firms evolve as industries mature. Their work traced how clusters can move from imitation and expansion towards better quality, productivity and innovation. It became the foundation for Cluster-Based Industrial Development, published in 2006.

Sonobe then took the question further. Could the mechanisms behind successful industrialisation be deliberately encouraged elsewhere? Field experiments in countries including Ghana, Tanzania and Vietnam tested management training and Japanese Kaizen methods among small businesses. The results were more nuanced than a simple training-success story. Management practices improved, but the effects on business performance varied. The findings highlighted a recurring difficulty in development policy: an intervention that works in theory can produce very different results in practice.

That tension between research and implementation has run through Sonobe’s career. At GRIPS, he served as vice president and held leadership roles in programmes focused on international development, state building and global governance. He became Dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute in 2020, leading the institution until 2025. He also chaired Think7 Japan in 2023, connecting research institutions with the G7 policy process.

Tetsushi Sonobe returned to GRIPS in April 2025 as Senior Professor and Director of its Global Governance Program. His recent work reflects the next stage of the development debate. He co-edited ADBI’s 2026 volume on Asia’s path towards high-income, sustainable growth, while his current research examines climate-smart agriculture and the resilience of rural economies.

The focus has shifted from how economies grow to how they sustain growth. Sonobe brings decades of evidence to that question, along with first-hand experience of how development policy succeeds, and where it falls short.