MOCKUP — Click page tabs below to preview each page
Dean Karlan

Dean Karlan

Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
Contact dean.karlan AT gmail.com
Kellogg Global Hub, Room 4441
2211 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208

Dean Karlan is the Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. His research uses randomized controlled trials across more than twenty countries to study microeconomic issues of poverty, spanning credit markets, agricultural development, entrepreneurship, health, and behavioral economics.

Affiliations

Education

Ph.D. Economics, MIT
M.B.A. and M.P.P., University of Chicago
B.A. International Affairs, University of Virginia

Publications

Title Date Publication Co-authors Links
Do Modern Forms of Human Capital Matter in Primitive Economies? Comparative Evidence from Bolivia1111 Feb 2005 Economics of Education Review, 24(1), pp. 45-5311 Ricardo Godoy, Shanti Rabindran, Tomas Huanca1111
Using Experimental Economics to Measure Social Capital and Predict Financial Decisions Dec 2005 American Economic Review, 95(5), pp. 1688-1699
Some Simple Analytics of Slave Redemption Jan 2006 Book chapter in Buying Freedom: The Ethics and Economics of Slave Redemption, edited by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Martin Bunzl, Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press Alan B. Krueger
Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines. May 2006 Quarterly Journal of Economics, 121(2), pp. 635-672 Nava Ashraf, Wesley Yin
Deposit Collectors May 2006 Advances in Economic Analysis & Policy, 6(2) Article 5, pp. 1-22 Nava Ashraf, Wesley Yin
Social Connections and Group Banking Feb 2007 Economic Journal, 117, pp. F52-F84
Community Size and Network Closure May 2007 American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings 97(2), pp. 80-85 Hunt Alcott, Markus Mobius, Tanya Rosenblat, Adam Szeidl
Does Price Matter in Charitable Giving? Evidence from a Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment Dec 2007 American Economic Review, 97(5), pp. 1774-1793 John A. List
Peer Monitoring and Enforcement: Long Term Evidence from Microcredit Lending Groups With and Without Group Liability Jan 2008 Subsumed by JDE paper titled "Group versus Individual Liability: Short and Long Term Evidence from Philippine Microcredit Lending Groups" Xavier Giné
Lying About Borrowing May 2008 Journal of the European Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, 6(2-3), pp. 510-521 Jonathan Zinman
Credit Elasticities in Less-Developed Economies: Implications for Microfinance Jun 2008 American Economic Review, 98(3), pp. 1040-1068 Jonathan Zinman
Social and Economic Correlates of Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Stress in South African Adults Jun 2008 Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62, pp. 538-544 Rita Hamad, Lia Fernald, Jonathan Zinman
Candy We Can Believe In: A Halloween Experiment on Trust and Political Symbolism (Halloween 2008) Oct 2008 working paper Treb Allen, Gharad Bryan, Snaebjorn Gunnsteinsson, Julian Jamison, Melanie Morten, Scott Nelson, Bram Thuysbaert
To Deceive or Not To Deceive: The Effect of Deception on Behavior in Future Laboratory Experiments Dec 2008 Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 68(2-3), pp. 477-488 Julian Jamison, Laura Schechter
Small Individual Loans and Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial Among South African Adults Dec 2008 BMC Public Health 8, Article Number: 409 (2008) Lia C.H. Fernald, Rita Hamad, Emily J. Ozer, Jonathan Zinman
Get-Out-the-Vote Phone Calls: Does Quality Matter? Mar 2009 American Politics Research, 37(4), pp. 353-369 Shang Ha
Participation in a School Incentive Programme in India Mar 2009 Journal of Development Studies, 45(3), pp. 369-390 Sharon Barnhardt, Stuti Khemani
Does the Media Matter? A Field Experiment Measuring the Effect of Newspapers on Voting Behavior and Political Opinions Apr 2009 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(2), pp. 35-52 Alan Gerber, Daniel Bergan
When Curiosity Kills the Profits: An Experimental Examination Jul 2009 Games and Economic Behavior, 66(2), pp. 830-840 Julian Jamison
Trust and Social Collateral Aug 2009 Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(3), pp. 1307-1361 Markus Mobius, Tanya Rosenblat, Adam Szeidl
Observing Unobservables: Identifying Information Asymmetries with a Consumer Credit Field Experiment Nov 2009 Econometrica, 77(6), pp. 1993-2008 Jonathan Zinman
Finding Missing Markets (and a disturbing epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya Nov 2009 American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 91(4), pp. 973-990 Nava Ashraf, Xavier Giné
Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions To Estimate the Impacts Nov 2009 Review of Financial Studies, 23(1), pp. 433-464 Jonathan Zinman
Microfinance Impact: Bias from Dropouts Jan 2010 Perspectives on Global Development and Technology 9(3), pp. 270-291 Gwendolyn Alexander-Tedeschi
Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila Jan 2010 Subsumed by Science paper titled "Microcredit in Theory and Practice: Using Randomized Credit Scoring for Impact Evaluation" Jonathan Zinman
What's Advertising Content Worth? Evidence from a Consumer Credit Marketing Field Experiment Feb 2010 Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(1), pp. 263-305 Marianne Bertrand, Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir, Jonathan Zinman
Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines Mar 2010 World Development, 38(3), pp. 333-344 Nava Ashraf, Wesley Yin
Commitment Devices Apr 2010 Annual Review of Economics, 2, pp. 671-698 Gharad Bryan, Scott Nelson
What Capital is Missing in Developing Countries? May 2010 American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, 100(2), pp. 629-633 Miriam Bruhn, Antoinette Schoar
Microfinance Games Jul 2010 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3), pp. 60-95 Xavier Giné, Pamela Jakiela, Jonathan Morduch
Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract for Smoking Cessation Oct 2010 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4), pp. 213-235 Xavier Giné, Jonathan Zinman
Health Education for Microcredit Clients in Peru: a Randomized Controlled Trial Jan 2011 BMC Public Health, 11(51) Rita Hamad, Lia Fernald
Crop Price Indemnified Loans for Farmers: A Pilot Experiment in Rural Ghana Jan 2011 Journal of Risk and Insurance, 78(1), pp. 37-55 Ed Kutsoati, Margaret McMillan, Christopher Udry
Being Surveyed Can Change Later Behavior and Related Parameter Estimates Feb 2011 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(5), pp. 1821-1826 Alix Zwane, Jonathan Zinman, Eric Van Dusen, William Pariente, Clair Null, Edward Miguel, Michael Kremer, Richard Hornbeck, Xavier Gine, Esther Duflo, Florencia Devoto, Bruno Crepon, Abhijit Banerjee
Teaching Entrepreneurship: Impact Of Business Training On Microfinance Clients and Institutions May 2011 Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(2), pp. 510-527 Martin Valdivia
Small Matches and Charitable Giving: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment Jun 2011 Journal of Public Economics, 95(5-6), pp. 344-350 John A. List, Eldar Shafir
Microcredit in Theory and Practice: Using Randomized Credit Scoring for Impact Evaluation (previously titled "Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila") Jun 2011 Science, 322(6035), pp. 1278-1284 Jonathan Zinman
There's Something about Ambiguity (Halloween 2007 & 2008) Sep 2011 working paper Santosh Anagol, Sheree Bennett, Gharad Bryan, Tiffany Davenport, Nancy Hite, Paul Lagunes, Margaret McConnell
Adaptive Experimental Design Using the Propensity Score Jan 2012 Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 29(1), pp. 96-108 Jinyong Hahn, Keisuke Hirano
List Randomization for Sensitive Behavior: An Application for Measuring Use of Loan Proceeds May 2012 Journal of Development Economics, 98(1), pp. 71-75 Jonathan Zinman
Hoping to Win, Expected to Lose: Theory and Lessons on Micro Enterprise Development Sep 2012 Subsumed by JEBO paper "Consulting and Capital Experiments with Microenterprise Tailors in Ghana" Ryan Knight, Christopher Udry
Candy We Still Believe In: Using Halloween to Measure Change in Extensive and Intensive Support for Barack Obama (Halloween 2012) Nov 2012 working paper Jane Bang, Zachary Groff, Sakshi Kumar, Kelsey Larson, Adele Rossouw
Ambiguous Solicitation: Ambiguous Prescription Jan 2013 Economic Inquiry, 51(1), pp. 1002-1011 Robert Gazzale, Julian Jamison, Alexander Karlan, Jonathan Zinman
Measuring Personality Traits and Predicting Loan Default with Experiments and Surveys Jan 2013 Book chapter in Banking the World: Empirical Foundations of Financial Inclusion, edited by Robert Cull, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt and Jonathan Morduch, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, pp. 393–414 Sendhil Mullainathan, Omar Robles
Social Networks, Financial Literacy and Index Insurance Jan 2013 World Bank working paper Xavier Giné, Muthoni Ngatia
Profitability of Fertilizer: Experimental Evidence from Female Rice Farmers in Mali May 2013 American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, 103(3), pp. 381-386 Lori Beaman, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry
Mixed Method Evaluation of a Passive mHealth Sexual Information Texting Service in Uganda May 2013 Information Technologies & International Development, 9(3), pp. 1-28 Julian Jamison, Pia Raffler
Win Some Lose Some? Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco May 2013 Subsumed by AEJ-AE paper titled "Microcredit Impacts: Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco" Manuela Angelucci, Jonathan Zinman
(Ineffective) Messages to Encourage Recycling: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Peru Aug 2013 World Bank Economic Review, 29(1), pp. 180-206 Alberto Chong, Jeremy Shapiro, Jonathan Zinman
Savings by and for the Poor: A Research Review and Agenda Feb 2014 Review of Income and Wealth, 60(1), pp. 36-78J Aishwarya Ratan, Jonathan Zinman
Agricultural Decisions after Relaxing Credit and Risk Constraints Feb 2014 The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(2), pp. 597-652 Robert Osei, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Christopher Udry
Group versus Individual Liability: Short and Long Term Evidence from Philippine Microcredit Lending Groups Mar 2014 Journal of Development Economics, 107(C), pp. 65-83 Xavier Giné
Financial Education and Access to Savings Accounts: Complements or Substitutes? Evidence from Ugandan Youth Clubs May 2014 subsumed by REStat paper "Five-year impacts of group-based financial education and savings promotion" Julian Jamison, Jonathan Zinman
Bank-insured RoSCA for Microfinance: Experimental Evidence in Poor Egyptian Villages Jul 2014 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 103 supplement, pp. S56-S73 Mahmoud ElGamal, Mohamed ElKomi, Adam Osman
Candy Under Constraints (Halloween 2013) Aug 2014 working paper Jodi Beggs, Michael Sanders
Hey Look at Me: The Effect of Giving Circles on Giving Oct 2014 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 106, pp. 402-412 Margaret A. McConnell
Saving for a (not so) Rainy Day: A Randomized Evaluation of Savings Groups in Mali Oct 2014 working paper Lori Beaman, Bram Thuysbaert
Does Corruption Information Inspire the Fight or Quash the Hope? A Field Experiment in Mexico on Voter Turnout, Choice, and Party Identification Dec 2014 Journal of Politics, 77(1), pp. 55-71 Alberto Chong, Ana L. De La O, Leonard Wantchekon
Six Randomized Evaluations of Microcredit: Introduction and Further Steps Jan 2015 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1), pp. 1-21 Abhijit Banerjee, Jonathan Zinman
Microcredit Impacts: Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco Jan 2015 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1), pp. 151-182 Manuela Angelucci, Jonathan Zinman
Behind the GATE Experiment: Evidence on Effects of and Rationales for Subsidized Entrepreneurship Training May 2015 American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 7(2), pp. 125-161 Robert Fairlie, Jonathan Zinman
The Catch-22 of External Validity in the Context of Constraints to Firm Growth May 2015 American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, 105(5), pp. 295-299 Greg Fischer
A Multi-faceted Program Causes Lasting Progress for the Very Poor: Evidence from Six Countries May 2015 Science, 348(6236), pp. 1260799-1 - 1260799-16 Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Nathanael Goldberg, Robert Osei, William Pariente, Jeremy Shapiro, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry
Promoting an Open Research Culture: Author Guidelines for Journals Could Help to Promote Transparency, Openness, and Reproducibility Jun 2015 Science, 348(6242), pp. 1422-1425 B. A. Nosek, et al.
Measuring Trust in Peruvian Shantytowns Jul 2015 working paper Markus Mobius, Tanya Rosenblat, Adam Szeidl
Referrals: Peer Screening and Enforcement in a Consumer Credit Field Experiment Aug 2015 American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 7(3), pp. 174-204 Gharad Bryan, Jonathan Zinman
Consulting and Capital Experiments with Microenterprise Tailors in Ghana (previously titled "Hoping to Win, Expected to Lose: Theory and Lessons on Micro Enterprise Development") Oct 2015 Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 118, pp. 281–302 Ryan Knight, Christopher Udry
a personal touch in text messaging can improve microloan repayment Jan 2016 Behavioral Science and Policy, 1(2), pp. 31-39 Melanie Morten, Jonathan Zinman
Candy Elasticity: Halloween Experiments on Public Political Statements (Halloween 2008 & 2012) Jan 2016 Economic Inquiry, 54(1), pp. 543-547 Julian Jamison
Follow the Money not the Cash: Comparing Methods for Identifying Consumption and Investment Responses to a Liquidity Shock Jul 2016 Journal of Development Economics, 121, pp.11-23 Adam Osman, Jonathan Zinman
Targeting Ultra-Poor Households in Honduras and Peru Aug 2016 World Bank Economic Review, 33(1), pp. 63-94 Bram Thuysbaert
Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving Dec 2016 Management Science, 62(12), pp. 3393-3411 Margaret McConnell, Sendhil Mullainathan, Jonathan Zinman
Designing Social Protection Programs: Using Theory and Experimentation to Understand how to Help Combat Poverty Jan 2017 Handbook of Field Experiments, Volume 2 Chapter 7 pp. 515-553 Rema Hanna
The Effect of Effectiveness: Donor Response to Aid Effectiveness in a Direct Mail Fundraising Experiment Feb 2017 Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 66, pp. 1-8 Dan Wood
Credit with Health Education in Benin: a Cluster Randomized Trial Examining Impacts on Knowledge and Behavior Feb 2017 American Journal of Tropical Health and Hygiene, 96(2), pp. 501-510 Bram Thuysbaert, Bobbi Gray
Impact of Savings Groups on the Lives of the Poor Mar 2017 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 114(12), pp. 3079-3084 Beniamino Savonitto, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry
Overcoming Behavioral Obstacles to Escaping Poverty May 2017 Behavioral Science & Policy, 3(1), pp. 81-91 Christopher J. Bryan, Nina Mazar, Julian Jamison, Jeanine Braithwaite, Nadine Dechausay, Alissa Fishbane, Elizabeth Fox, Varun Gauri, Rachel Glennerster, Johannes Haushofer, Renos Vakis
Survivor: Three Principles of Economics Taught by a Reality Television Show May 2017 Journal of Economic Education, 48(3), pp. 224-228
Challenges to Replication and Iteration in Field Experiments: Evidence from Two Direct Mail Shots May 2017 American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 107(5), pp. 462-465 Jake Bowers, Nathaniel Higgins, Sarah Tulman, Jonathan Zinman
Continued Existence of Cows Disproves Central Tenets of Capitalism? Jul 2017 Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, 65(4), pp. 583-618 Santosh Anagol, Alvin Etang
Price and Control Elasticities of Demand for Savings Jan 2018 Journal of Development Economics, 130(C), pp.145-159 Jonthan Zinman
The Effect of Images of Michelle Obama’s Face on Trick-or-Treaters’ Dietary Choices: A Randomized Control Trial (Halloween 2012, 2014 & 2015) Jan 2018 PLOS ONE, 13(1): e0189693 Peter M. Aronow, Lauren E. Pinson
The Impact of Financial Education for Youth in Ghana Feb 2018 World Development 102, pp. 71-89 James Berry, Menno Pradhan
Intuitive Donating: Testing One-Line Solicitations for $1 Donations in a Large Online Experiment Feb 2018 Book chapter in The Economics of Philanthropy, edited by Tonin Mirco and Kimberly Scharf, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press Samantha Horn
The Impact of Consulting Services on Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Mexico Mar 2018 Journal of Political Economy, 126(2), pp. 635-687 Miriam Bruhn, Antoinette Schoar
Banking the Unbanked? Evidence from Three Countries Apr 2018 American Economic Journal - Applied Economics, 10(2), pp. 257-297 Pascaline Dupas, Jonathan Robinson, Diego Ubfal
Unshrouding: Evidence from Bank Overdrafts in Turkey Apr 2018 Journal of Finance, 73(2), pp. 481-522 Sule Alan, Mehmet Cemalcilar, Jonathan Zinman
Debt Traps? Market Vendors and Moneylender Debt in India and the Philippines Jun 2018 American Economic Review: Insights 1(1), pp. 27-42 Sendhil Mullainathan, Benjamin N. Roth
Short-term Subsidies and Seller Type: A Health Products Experiment in Uganda Aug 2018 Journal of Development Economics, 137, pp.110-124 Greg Fischer, Maggie McConnell, Pia Raffler
Unconditional cash transfers for clinical and economic outcomes among HIV-affected Ugandan households Sep 2018 AIDS, 32(14), pp. 2023-2031 Edward J. Mills, Achyuta Adhvaryu, Pamela Jakiela, Josephine Birungi, Stephen Okoboi, Teddy Nabwire W. Chimulwa, Jonathan Wanganisi, Tina Achilla, Evan Popoff, Shirin Golchi
Long-Run Price Elasticities of Demand for Credit: Evidence from a Countrywide Field Experiment in Mexico Jul 2019 Review of Economic Studies, 86(4), pp. 1704–1746 Jonathan Zinman
Good Identification, Meet Good Data Dec 2019 World Development, 127, 104796, pp. 1-3 Andrew Dillon, Christopher Udry, Jonathan Zinman
Blue Porches: Finding the Limits of External Validity of the Endowment Effect Apr 2020 Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 176, pp. 269-271 Gharad Bryan, Matthew Grant, Kareem Haggag, Dean Karlan, Meredith Startz and Christopher Udry
Increasing Financial Inclusion in the Muslim World: Evidence from an Islamic Finance Marketing Experiment May 2020 World Bank Economic Review, pp. 1-22 Adam Osman, Nour Shammout
Do Information Technologies Improve Teenagers’ Sexual Education? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Colombia (previously titled "Effectiveness and Spillovers of Online Sex Education: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Colombian Public Schools") Jun 2020 The World Bank Economic Review, Vol 34(2), pp. 371-392 Alberto Chong, Marco Gonzalez-Navarro, Martin Valdivia
Randomizing Religion: The Impact of Protestant Evangelism on Economic Outcomes Jun 2020 Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 136, Issue 1, pp. 293-380 Gharad Bryan, James J. Choi
How Can Bill and Melinda Gates Increase Other People's Donations to Fund Public Goods Nov 2020 Journal of Public Economics, Vol 191 (104296) John A. List
Consumer protection for financial inclusion in low and middle income countries: Bridging regulator and academic perspectives Dec 2020 Annual Review of Financial Economics, Vol 13, pp. 219-246 Seth Garz, Xavier Giné, Rafe Mazer, Caitlin Sanford, and Jonathan Zinman
Falling living standards during the COVID-19 crisis: Quantitative evidence from nine developing countries Feb 2021 Science Advances, 7: eabe0997 Egger et al.
Social Protection Amidst Social Upheaval: Examining the Impact of a Multi-Faceted Program for Ultra-Poor Households in Yemen Mar 2021 Journal of Development Economics, Vol 155, (102780) Lasse Brune, Sikandra Kurdi, Christopher Udry
Evaluation of a Combined Financial Incentives and Deposit Contract Intervention for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial Mar 2021 Journal of Smoking Cessation, vol 2021, Article ID (6612505) Daren Anderson, Samantha Horn, Amanda Kowalski, Jody Sindelar and Jonathan Zinman
A Mega-Study of Text-Based Nudges Encouraging Patients to Get Vaccinated at an Upcoming Doctor’s Appointment May 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 114(12), pp. 3079-3084 Milkman et al.
A Call for Structured Ethics Appendices in Social Science Papers Jun 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Edward Asiedu, Monica Lambon-Quayefio, Christopher Udry
COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy in Low and Middle Income Countries, and Implications for Messaging Jun 2021 Nature Medicine, 27, pp. 1385-1394 Solís et al.
Does Poverty Change Labor Supply? Evidence from Multiple Income Effects and 115,579 Bags Nov 2025 working paper Abhijit Banerjee, Hannah Trachtman, Christopher Udry
Dangers of a Double-Bottom Line: A Poverty Targeting Experiment Misses Both Targets Oct 2021 Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (Wiley) Special Issue, pp.510-522 Adam Osman, Jonathan Zinman
A Randomized Trial of Behavioral Nudges Delivered Through Text Messages to Increase Influenza Vaccination Among Patients With an Upcoming Primary Care Visit Oct 2021 American Journal of Health Promotion, Vol. 37, Issue 3, pp. 324-332 Patel et al.
Unpacking a Multi-Faceted Program to Build Sustainable Income for the Very Poor Dec 2021 Journal of Development Economics, Vol 155, (102781) Abhijit Banerjee, Robert Osei, Hannah Trachtman, Christopher Udry
Randomization for Causality, Ethnography for Mechanisms: Illiquid Savings for Liquor in an Autarkic Society Dec 2021 working paper Ricardo Godoy and Jonathan Zinman
A 680,000-Person Megastudy of Nudges to Encourage Vaccination in Pharmacies Dec 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Vol 119, No.6 e2115126119 Milkman et al.
Megastudies Improve the Impact of Applied Behavioral Science Dec 2021 Nature, Vol. 600, p478–483 Milkman et al.
Cooperation in the commons: Evaluating investment in community-based rangeland management in Namibia Feb 2022 Nature - Communications Earth & Environment 3 (32) D. Layne Coppock, Lucas Crowley, Susan L. Durham, Dylan Groves, Julian C. Jamison, Brien E. Norton, R. Douglas Ramsey
Machine Learning and Phone Data Can Improve Targeting of Humanitarian Aid Mar 2022 Nature, Vol. 603, pp. 864-870 Emily Aiken, Suzanne Bellue, Christopher Udry, and Joshua Blumenstock
Tackling Psychosocial and Capital Constraints Opens Pathways out of Poverty (previously titled "Pathways out of Extreme Poverty: Tackling Psychosocial and Capital Constraints with a Multi-faceted Social Protection Program in Niger") Apr 2022 Nature, Vol. 605, p291–297 Thomas Bossuroy, Markus Goldstein, Bassirou Karimou, Harounan Kazianga, William Parienté, Patrick Premand, Catherine Thomas, Christopher Udry, Julia Vaillant, and Kelsey Wright
Social Protection and Social Distancing During the Pandemic: Mobile Money Transfers in Ghana Jul 2025 Journal of Development Economics, forthcoming Matt Lowe, Robert Osei, Isaac Osei-Akoto, Benjamin N. Roth, and Christopher Udry
Do Collusive Norms Maximize Profits? Evidence from a Vegetable Market Experiment in India Sep 2024 working paper Abhijit Banerjee, Greg Fischer, Matt Lowe, and Benjamin N. Roth
Credit Building or Credit Crumbling? A Credit Builder Loan's Effects on Consumer Behavior, Credit Scores and Their Predictive Power Sep 2022 Review of Financial Studies, Vol 36, Issue 4, pp. 1585-1620 Jeremy Burke, Julian Jamison, Kata Mihaly, Jonathan Zinman
Passing the message: Peer outreach about COVID-19 precautions in Zambia (previously titled "Replication and Adaptation of Incentivized Peer Outreach: From Tuberculosis in India to COVID-19 in Zambia") Oct 2024 Journal of Development Economics, Volume 171, 103318 Alfredo Burlando, Pradeep Chintagunta, Jessica Goldberg, Melissa Graboyes, Peter Hangoma, Mario Macis, and Silvia Prina
Give Me a Pass: Flexible Credit for Entreprenuers in Colombia Oct 2025 Economic Journal, forthcoming Lasse Brune and Xavier Giné
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Among Ghana’s Rural Poor Is Effective Regardless of Baseline Mental Distress Dec 2022 American Economic Review: Insights, Vol 4, No 4, pp. 527-545 Nathan Barker, Gharad Bryan, Angela Ofori-Atta, and Christopher Udry
Improving Smallholder Agriculture via Video-Based Group Extension Jun 2024 Journal of Development Economics, Volume 169, 103267 Tushi Baul, Kentaro Toyama, and Kathryn Vasilaky
Loose Knots: Strong versus Weak Commitments to Save for Education in Uganda May 2025 Journal of Development Economics, Volume 174, 103444 Leigh L. Linden
How Political Insiders Lose Out When International Aid Underperforms: Evidence from a Participatory Development Experiment in Ghana Sep 2023 World Development, Vol.169, 106296 Kate Baldwin, Christopher Udry, Ernest Appiah
Self-Selection into Credit Markets: Evidence from Agriculture in Mali Oct 2023 Econometrica, Vol. 91, No. 5, pp1595–1627 Lori Beaman, Bram Thuysbaert, Christopher Udry
The Fading Treatment Effects of a Multi-Faceted Asset-Transfer Program in Ethiopia Jun 2024 American Economic Review: Insights, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 277–94 Nathan Barker, Christopher Udry, Kelsey Wright
Smiles in Profiles: Improving Fairness and Efficiency Using Estimates of User Preferences in Online Marketplaces Jan 2025 working paper Susan Athey, Emil Palikot, Yuan Yuan
Five-year impacts of group-based financial education and savings promotion for Ugandan youth (formerly titled "Does lasting behavior change require knowledge change? Evidence from savings interventions for young adults") Apr 2023 Review of Economics and Statistics Samantha Horn, Julian Jamison, Jonathan Zinman
Big Loans to Small Businesses: Predicting Winners and Losers in an Entrepreneurial Lending Experiment Sep 2024 American Economic Review, Vol. 114, No. 9, pp. 2825–60 Gharad Bryan and Adam Osman
Estimating Impact with Surveys versus Digital Traces: Evidence from Randomized Cash Transfers in Togo Jun 2025 Journal of Development Economics, Volume 175, 103477 Emily Aiken, Suzanne Bellue, Joshua Blumenstock, Christopher Udry
Unconditional Cash Transfers: A Bayesian Meta-Analysis of Randomized Evaluations in Low and Middle Income Countries Apr 2025 working paper Tommaso Crosta, Finley Ong, Julius Rüschenpöhler, Christopher Udry
Introduction to the Journal of Development Economics Special Issue on Methods and Measurement Sep 2024 Journal of Development Economics, Volume 170, 103303 Kathleen Beegle, Andrew Dillon, Christopher Udry
Human Capital at Home: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in the Philippines Aug 2025 working paper Noam Angrist, Sarah Kabay, Lincoln Lau, Kevin Wong
Access to Digital Credit for Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Ghana Jan 2026 Journal of Development Economics Monica Lambon-Quayefio, Utsav Manjeer, Christopher Udry
Does Q&A Boost Engagement? Health Messaging Experiments in the U.S. and Ghana Aug 2025 Management Science Erika L. Kirgios, Susan Athey, Angela L. Duckworth, Michael Luca, Katherine L. Milkman, Molly Offer-Westort
Group versus Individual Coaching for Rural Social Protection Programs: Evidence from Uganda, Philippines, and Bangladesh Jan 2026 American Economic Review: Insights, conditionally accepted Beam, Brune, Das, Dercon, Goldberg, Haque, Khan, Parkerson, Pople, Sawada, Udry, Zizzamia
Profits and Social Impacts: Complements vs Tradeoffs for Lenders in Three Countries Dec 2025 working paper Susan Athey, Bruno Fava, Adam Osman, Jonathan Zinman
Great Expectations: Responses to Current and Future Transfers for Low-Income Individuals Feb 2026 working paper Achyuta Adhvaryu, Jean-Francois Gauthier, Pamela Jakiela
Esther Duflo Jul 2025 The Palgrave Companion to MIT Economics, Chapter 41, pp 865-885 Chris Udry
Microfinance Impact Assessments: The Perils of Using New Members as a Control Group Nov 2001 Journal of Microfinance
A Review of Commitment Savings Products in Developing Countries May 2003 Asian Development Bank Economics and Research Development Working Paper Nava Ashraf, Nathalie Gons, Wesley Yin
Testing Savings Product Innovations Using an Experimental Methodology Nov 2003 Asian Development Bank Technical Note Series, 8 Nava Ashraf, Wesley Yin
Evaluating Microfinance Program Innovation with Randomized Control Trials: An Example from Group versus Individual Lending Mar 2006 Asian Development Bank Economics and Research Department Technical Note Series, 16 Xavier Giné, Tomoko Harigaya, Binh Nguyen
Evaluating Microfinance Program Innovation with Randomized Controlled Trials: Examples from Business Training and Group versus Individual Liability Jul 2006 Prepared for the 2006 Microcredit Summit Tomoko Harigaya, Sara Nadel
Optimizing Loan Contracting and Marketing Stategies Using Field Experimentation Nov 2006 prepared for the 2006 Microcredit Summit Jonathan Zinman
Microentrepreneurs and Their Money: Three Anomalies Mar 2007 unpublished paper Bindu Ananth, Sendhil Mullainathan
In Defense of Usury Nov 2007 Wall Street Journal Jonathan Zinman
Is Microfinance Too Rigid? Dec 2007 VoxEU Sendhil Mullainathan
Microlending Needs Bigger Ideas May 2008 Marketplace on National Public Radio
The Value of Inconvenience Mar 2009 Alliance Magazine Chona Echavez
How Government Can Guide Small Borrowers Apr 2009 Financial Times Jonathan Zinman
Cairo Evaluation Clinic: Thoughts on Randomized Trials For Evaluation of Development Jun 2009 Journal of Development Effectiveness, 1(3)
Cross Sectional Impact Analysis: Bias from Dropouts Aug 2009 Perspectives on Global Development and Technology microfinance special issue Gwendolyn Alexander-Tedeschi
Does Ad Content Affect Consumer Demand? Sep 2009 Alliance Magazine Manfred Kuhn, Jonathan Zinman
Strength in Numbers Sep 2009 Microfinance Insights
Crossfire: Randomized Control Trials are the Best Way to Measure Impact of Microfinance Programs and Improve Microfinance Product Designs Sep 2009 Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 20(3), pp. 167-176 Nathanael Goldberg
Committed to Savings: Using Behavioral Economics to Motivate Members Sep 2009 Filene Research Institute, (194)
Do Matching Grants Really Work? Dec 2009 Alliance Magazine Kareem Haggag
Survival of the Deviant Sep 2010 Stanford Social Innovation Review
Help Microfinance, Don't Kill It. Nov 2010 The Indian Express Abhijit Banerjee, Pranab Bardhan, Esther Duflo, Erica Field, Asim Khwaja, Dilip Mookherjee, Rohini Pande, Raghuram Rajan
Helping the Poor Save More Dec 2010 Stanford Social Innovation Review
Microcredit is Not the Enemy Dec 2010 Financial Times Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Erica Field, Asim Khwaja, Dilip Mookherjee, Rohini Pande, Raghuram Rajan
Microfinance Works, Even Without a Hollywood Ending May 2011 The Christian Science Monitor Jacob Appel
You Can't Always Get What You Want May 2011 Foreign Policy Jacob Appel
Microfinance Evaluation Strategies: Notes on Methodology and Findings Jun 2011 The Handbook of Microfinance Nathanael Goldberg, edited by Beatriz Armendariz and Marc Labie
Training to Save? May 2012 Stanford Social Innovation Review Annie Duflo
Can Management Consulting Help Small Firms Grow? Jun 2012 Stanford Social Innovation Review Annie Duflo
Evaluate (Response to Toyama's article) Jun 2012 Boston Review
Development Controversy a Sign of Sophistication Aug 2012 Stanford Social Innovation Review Caroline Fiennes
Changing Savings Habits Sep 2012 Stanford Social Innovation Review Annie Duflo
Candy We Still Believe In: A Halloween Experiment Nov 2012 Freakonomics
Every Which Way We Can Dec 2012 Finance and Development
Charitable Giving: Why Fewer Is More Dec 2012 Freakonomics
An Economist’s Guide to Year-End Charitable Giving Dec 2012 Freakonomics
Your Own Private Fiscal Cliff (Gated) Jan 2013 Wall Street Journal
What Can We Learn From Congress and African Farmers About Losing Weight? Jan 2013 Freakonomics
Now Hiring Mar 2013 Freakonomics
To Test or Not to Test Apr 2013 Freakonomics
The Millennium Ethical Fallacy: Why Ignore Future Children? Sep 2013 Freakonomics
Charity “Shoppers” vs. Charity Investors Dec 2013 Freakonomics
Innovation, Inclusion and Trust: The Role of Nonprofits in Microfinance Jan 2014 PLAN International white paper
Measuring Impact Isn't for Everyone Apr 2014 Stanford Social Innovation Review Mary Kay Gugerty
Why You Should Root for Nigeria (or Brazil, Mexico or Ghana) Jun 2014 New York Times
The Next Stage of Financial Inclusion Sep 2014 Stanford Social Innovation Review
Here's How to Determine if That Charity is Worth Your Dollars Dec 2014 Los Angeles Times
The Best Ways to Give (Gated) Dec 2014 Project Syndicate
New Data Reveals Which Approach to Helping the Poor Actually Works Jun 2015 Reuters
The Way to Help the Poor Oct 2015 Scientific American
Testimony of Professor Dean Karlan Yale University and Innovations for Poverty Action before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Oct 2015 Congressional Record, U.S. House Committee on Financial Services
Will Setting Goals End Hunger? What’s Next for the SDGs… Dec 2015 Council on Foreign Relations
What Data Can Do to Fight Poverty Jan 2016 New York Times Annie Duflo
Five Questions with Dean Karlan Feb 2016 Council on Foreign Relations
Making Microfinance More Effective Oct 2016 Harvard Business Review Rebecca Mann, Jake Kendall, Rohini Pande, Tavneet Suri, Jonathan Zinman
Cash as Capital (Gated) Jun 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review Chris Blattman, Michael Faye, Paul Niehaus, Chris Udry
How can we help extremely poor people earn more money? May 2018 Science Journal for Teens
Ten Reasons Not to Measure Impact-and What to Do Instead. Jun 2018 Stanford Social Innovation Review Mary Kay Gugerty
Behavioral Economics and Donor Nudges: Impulse or Deliberation Jan 2019 Stanford Social Innovation Review Tantia Piyush, Sarah Welch
Can Banks Play a Role in Improving Resilience to Climate Change? Jun 2019 International Banker Rebecca Rouse, Laura Burke
How to practice social distancing while helping the economy Mar 2020 Washington Post Susan Athey
Hard Data for Hard Choices Jun 2020 Project Syndicate Alison Fahey, Nathanael Goldberg
Why You Shouldn’t Ask a Charity How It Spends Your Donation Nov 2020 Wall Street Journal
Engagement Requires Contrast Dec 2020 The NonProfit Times
A theory and evidence test for strategic international aid Mar 2025 The Hill Ted Yoho
USAID Position Paper on Cost-Effectiveness Oct 2024 USAID Position Paper Team from the Office of the Chief Economist
USAID Position Paper on Direct Monetary Transfers (aka Unconditional Cash Transfers) Oct 2024 USAID Position Paper Team from the Office of the Chief Economist
In a Blank Space of rural finance, new platforms quietly entered, Fearless farmers invest when digital credit is carefully tailored. But Out of the Woods we are not — lending seems best when swift, So Shake It Off, Begin Again: more innovation would be a gift. Access to Digital Credit for Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Ghana
Machine learning predicts Yet surveys reveal the truth Cash transfers’ true worth Estimating impact with surveys versus digital traces: Evidence from randomized cash transfers in Togo
Tethered funds restrain. Yet weaker bonds free the mind—. Learning finds its path. And we learn that AI converts abstract to haiku-highlights quite well. Loose knots: Strong versus weak commitments to save for education in Uganda
Poverty implies. freedom to decide, to dream. To decide to dream. For highlights beyond this 5-7-5 haiku, please read on. Improving smallholder agriculture via video-based group extension
We study a multi-faceted program to alleviate poverty. Please see abstract. Summary of key results there. Unpacking a multi-faceted program to build sustainable income for the very poor

Books

The Goldilocks Challenge

The Goldilocks Challenge

2018 • with Mary Kay Gugerty

Right-Fit Evidence for the Social Sector

Amazon Link →
More Than Good Intentions

More Than Good Intentions

2011 • with Jacob Appel

How a New Economics is Helping to Solve Global Poverty

Amazon Link →
Failing in the Field

Failing in the Field

2016 • with Jacob Appel

Learning from research that went wrong

Amazon Link →
Economics

Economics

with Jonathan Morduch

Principles textbook

Amazon Link →

OCE@USAID Museum

This museum aims to document what we had been doing in the creation and building of USAID's first Office of the Chief Economist, with an eye towards hopefully learning from this experience in future efforts to improve how foreign aid is done. We include here outputs from the office, media reports on what we were doing, alumni, and some bespoke writing about our strategy, challenges, wins, and losses, written after the dismantling of USAID about what our strategy had been and aimed to be doing in the future.

Photos

Documents

Media

Alumni

Photos

Travel Photos

Family Photos

Bike Trips

Project Photos

Other