On 18 January 2024, the United Nations University, in partnership with the International Peace Foundation, will host “Why Globalization Has Failed to Reduce Inequality“, a public lecture by Professor Eric S. Maskin, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences, and Adams University Professor and Professor of Economics and Mathematics at Harvard University. The event will start at 14:00 in U Thant International Conference Hall at the United Nations University in Tokyo.

（Time） 18 Jan 2024, 14:00 – 18 Jan 2024, 15:30 Asia/Tokyo

（Address）https://go.unu.edu/6krXW

This special lecture is part of the Japan-ASEAN Bridges Event Series, commemorating the 50th anniversary of official relations between Japan and the ASEAN region.

Professor Eric S. Maskin received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2007 for laying out the foundations of mechanism design theory, which determines whether it is possible to build an institution (or mechanism) that will achieve a specific economic or social goal. His contributions have had a profound impact on economics, public policy, and even fields as diverse as political science and computer science.

Professor Maskin will explore how and why globalization has led to an increase in income inequality in many emerging economies (the “haves” gain from globalization, while the “have-nots” lose out), which may help explain rising anti-globalization sentiment in recent years despite the large benefits that globalization has brought. However, Professor Maskin will also argue that education and job training for the least-advantaged members of society can make globalization work for them, too. Such training will be especially important in the post-COVID-pandemic world.

You are encouraged to participate in a question and answer session, which will follow Prof. Maskin’s lecture.

This event will be held in English with simultaneous interpretation in Japanese. Advance registration (by 17 January) is required. Please click on the REGISTER button above to access the online registration page.

Please note that entry into the venue will not be allowed after 14:15. Please be prepared to present identification at check-in. 

About the speaker

Prof. Eric Stark Maskin is a US economist who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2007 “for having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory,” a specialized form of game theory that attempts to maximize gains for all parties within markets and examines whether trading mechanisms are the best ways of allocating resources. Professor Maskin is the Albert O. Hirschman Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, a visiting lecturer with the rank of Professor at Princeton University’s Economics Department, and a Member of the Advisory Board of the International Peace Foundation.