
Esther Duflo
Co-Director at J-PAL, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT
Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). In her research, she seeks to understand the economic lives of the poor, with the aim to help design and evaluate social policies. She has worked on health, education, financial inclusion, environment and governance.
Professor Esther Duflo’s first degrees were in history and economics from Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris. She subsequently received a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1999. Duflo has received numerous academic honors and prizes including 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (with co-Laureates Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer), the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (2015), the A.SK Social Science Award (2015), Infosys Prize (2014), the David N. Kershaw Award (2011), a John Bates Clark Medal (2010), and a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship (2009). With Abhijit Banerjee, she wrote Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, which won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011 and has been translated into more than 17 languages, and the recently released Good Economics for Hard Times.
Duflo is the Editor of the American Economic Review, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.
Recent work by Esther Duflo
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Agronomy training in Rwanda had negative spillovers
The apparent positive impact of training coffee farmers in Rwanda was driven by negative spillover effects on farmers who did not receive training
Esther Duflo Daniel Keniston Tavneet Suri Céline Zipfel
Published 04.09.23
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Development in the 21st century
How can development economics respond to the challenges of the 21st century?
Published 12.07.23
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Long-term effects of the Targeting the Ultra Poor programme
Ten years later, households targeted by the programme consume more and earn more than control households and enjoy better mental and physical health
Abhijit Banerjee Esther Duflo Garima Sharma
Published 18.05.22
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Women as policymakers: Evidence from a randomised policy experiment in India
Women leaders increase the provision of public goods that benefit women and children more, and also raise the aspirations of girls and their parents
Video : Institutions & Political Economy
Raghab Chattopadhyay Esther Duflo
Published 07.04.21
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The unintended impacts of formal credit programmes on social networks: Evidence from India
The introduction of financial institutions in communities may generate long-lasting externalities, including losses in informal social linkages
Abhijit Banerjee Emily Breza Arun G. Chandrasekhar Esther Duflo Matthew Jackson Cynthia Kinnan
Published 17.02.21
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What’s wrong with economics?
How can economists better communicate with the wider public to regain the profession’s credibility?
Published 22.06.20
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Can microfinance unlock the poverty trap for some entrepreneurs?
Microfinance has potentially transformative impacts for some entrepreneurs, especially those who otherwise would be stuck in a poverty trap
Abhijit Banerjee Emily Breza Esther Duflo Cynthia Kinnan
Published 27.03.20
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Randomised control trials: Lessons for policy
What are randomised control trials, and what is the best way to use them to inform policy decisions?
Published 14.10.19
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Improved cooking stoves in India: Evaluating long-run impacts
The limited impacts of an improved cooking stove programme in India suggest that testing interventions in real-world conditions is important
Articles : Energy & Environment
Esther Duflo Michael Greenstone Rema Hanna Claire Walsh
Published 30.09.19