Kayoko Kobayashi is an associate professor in the Faculty of Economics, at Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan. Having completed her doctoral studies at the Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo, she focuses on behavioral economics, applied game theory, and law and economics, with special interests in human decision making from an
evolutionary perspective and building social systems that promote well-being for all.
This book is her first solo English language publication, and the original Japanese edition of it won the Nikkei Prize for Economics Books (the 64th Nikkei-Keizai Tosho Bunka award) in 2021, an accolade awarded to outstanding economics books. This work also received the Takashima Kunio Jiyu Prize Encouragement Award in 2024. She is the mother of three loving children.