Dr. Kono teaches in the Kyoto University Faculty of Economics, Graduate School of Economics, and International Graduate Programme for East Asia Sustainable Economic Development Studies. His work deals with various issues of economic development and poverty based on microeconomic theory, econometrics, and statistical methods including contract design of microcredit and insurance schemes, designing health and education programs for the poor, remittance, intra-household decision making, market frictions in agricultural trade, and misallocation of resources. He was previously research fellow at Institute of Developing Economies and visiting scholar at Harvard University and Institute for Fiscal Studies. He received his B.D. in Regional Studies from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, and his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tokyo.