Esther Duflo

Esther Duflo
Duflo in 2009
Born (1972-10-25) 25 October 1972 (age 51)
Paris, France
Spouse
​
(m. 2015)​
Children2
Academic career
Institutions
  • MIT (1999–present)
  • NBER (1999–present)
FieldDevelopment economics
Alma mater
Doctoral
advisor		Abhijit Banerjee • Joshua Angrist
Doctoral
students		Emily Breza • Dean Karlan • Rachael Meager • Nancy Qian
ContributionsRandomized controlled trials
Awards
Information at IDEAS / RePEc
Academic background
ThesisThree Essays in Empirical Development Economics (1999)

Esther Duflo, FBA (French: [dyflo]; born 25 October 1972) is a French–American economist[1] currently serving as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).[2] In 2019, she was jointly awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences alongside Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty."[3]

In addition to her academic appointment, Duflo is the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL),[2] an MIT-based research center promoting the use of randomized controlled trials in policy evaluation.[4] As of 2020, more than 400 million people had been impacted by programs tested by J-PAL affiliated researchers.[5] Since 2024, Duflo has also served as the president of the Paris School of Economics alongside her appointment at MIT.[6]

Duflo is a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER),[7] a board member of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD),[8] and the director of the development economics program of the Centre for Economic Policy Research.[7] Her research focuses on the microeconomics of development and spans topics such as household behavior,[9] education,[9][10] financial inclusion,[4] political economy,[10] gender,[10] and health.[11] Prior to receiving the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Duflo was awarded the Elaine Bennett Research Prize (2002)[9] and John Bates Clark Medal (2010)[10] by the American Economic Association.

Together with Abhijit Banerjee, Duflo is the co-author of Poor Economics[11] and Good Economics for Hard Times,[12] published in April 2011 and November 2019, respectively. According to the Open Syllabus Project, Duflo is the seventh most frequently cited author on college syllabi for economics courses.[13]

  1. ^ Thiery, Clément (16 October 2019). "Franco-American Esther Duflo Wins the Nobel Prize in Economics". France-Amérique. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Esther Duflo | MIT Economics". MIT Economics. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Esther Duflo: Facts". The Nobel Prize. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b Parker, Ian (10 May 2010). "The Poverty Lab". New Yorker. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  5. ^ Dhaliwal, Iqbal; Floretta, John; Friedlander, Sam (27 February 2020). "Beyond Randomized Controlled Trials". Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Esther Duflo, new President of the Paris School of Economics - Paris School of Economics". Paris School of Economics. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Esther Duflo". MacArthur Foundation. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  8. ^ "BREAD - People". Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "2002 Elaine Bennett Research Prize". American Economic Association. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d "Esther Duflo, Clark Medalist 2010". American Economic Association. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  11. ^ a b Ogden, Timothy (2011). "Radically Small Thinking". Stanford Social Innovation Review. 9 (4): 17.
  12. ^ Varoufakis, Yanis (11 November 2019). "Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit V Banerjee and Esther Duflo review – methodical deconstruction of fake facts". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Open Syllabus Project". Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2021.