Dean Karlan

Dean Karlan
Chief Economist of the US Agency for International Development
Assumed office
November 15, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
AdministratorSamantha Power
Academic career
FieldDevelopment economics
Behavioral economics
Institution
Alma mater
Doctoral
advisor
Abhijit Banerjee
Esther Duflo
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship
Sloan Fellowship
NSF CAREER Award
Information at IDEAS / RePEc

Dean Karlan is an American development economist and social entrepreneur currently serving as chief economist of the United States Agency for International Development.[1] Alongside his role at USAID, he is the Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University where, alongside Christopher Udry, he co-directs the Globe Poverty Research Lab at the Kellogg School of Management.[1]

Karlan's research focuses on the microeconomics of poverty alleviation in the developing world.[1] Alongside Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Edward Miguel, he has been a leading proponent of the use of randomized controlled trials to inform policy decisions in developing countries.[2] In 2002,[3] Karlan founded Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a New Haven headquartered nonprofit organization that promotes the use of scientific evidence in global poverty alleviation.[1][2] He is also the founder of StickK, an internet company and website that applies lessons from behavioral science to help individuals achieve their goals through commitment contracts.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Dean Karlan: Agency Chief Economist". United States Agency for International Development. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  2. ^ a b The Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (2019-10-14). "Scientific Background on the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019: Understanding Development and Poverty Alleviation" (PDF). Nobel Prize. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  3. ^ "Innovations for Poverty Action | About". Innovations for Poverty Action. Retrieved 2024-07-16.