Dean Karlan

Dean Karlan
Chief Economist of the US Agency for International Development
Incumbent
Assumed office November 15, 2022
President	Joe Biden
Administrator	Samantha Power
Academic career
Field	Development economics Behavioral economics
Institution	Northwestern (2017–present) NBER (2011–present) Yale (2005–2017) Princeton (2002–2005)
Alma mater	MIT (PhD 2002) UChicago (MBA, MPP 1997) University of Virginia (BA 1990)
Doctoral advisor	Abhijit Banerjee Esther Duflo
Awards	Guggenheim 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]