Hiroyuki Egami is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, an Affiliated Researcher at Otaru University of Commerce, and a JSPS Scientist for Joint International Research. His research sits at the intersection of digital technology and human behaviour, with a particular focus on how video gaming affects mental well-being across the full age spectrum. Hiroyuki places special emphasis on identifying the causal mechanisms behind these effects and on understanding how they vary across individuals and environments. He aims to translate these empirical insights into practical applications — helping people engage with digital media in healthier ways and make choices that better support their own well-being.
To generate rigorous causal evidence, he combines natural experiments — leveraging random real-world events in everyday life — with advanced econometric methods. His work draws on a unique collection of natural-experimental datasets from diverse contexts and populations. Driven by a broader commitment to accumulating robust evidence on digital technology and human behaviour, his work has appeared in journals including Nature Human Behaviour and World Development Sustainability, and has attracted wide media attention across more than 100 international outlets.
Hiroyuki holds a PhD in Advanced Policy Studies from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (Japan) and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago, and previously spent a decade at the Bank of Japan.