Abhijit Banerjee, American economist

Abhijit Banerjee, American economist

Wed, 15/06/2022

Portrait

Doctor Honoris causa of ENS de Lyon, June 23, 2022

Biography

Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee is an economist, currently a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.

He co-founded with Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan, the MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and remains one of its directors. Anchored by a network of more than 250 affiliated professors in economics, J-PAL conducts impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

After studying at the University of Calcutta and Jawaharlal-Nehru University, Abhijit Banerjee entered Harvard University where he received his Ph.D. in 1988. He conducted his thesis – Essays in Information Economics – under the supervision of Eric Maskin.

Associate Professor of Economics from 1988 to 1992 at Princeton University, then from 1992 to 1993 at Harvard University, he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993. Since 2004, he has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometric Society.

Abhijit Banerjee's work, conducted with a rigorous approach based on the implementation of real-life tests with control groups, has revolutionized development economics. His research was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2019, of which he is co-recipient with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer.

His latest book, co-authored with Esther Duflo, Good Economics for Hard Times, responds to the urgency of inequality by proposing alternatives to current policies. A book written in the words of the authors "to hold onto hope. To tell ourselves a story of what went wrong, and why, but also as a reminder of all that has gone right".

 

Some of his awards and distinctions

Guggenheim Fellowships in 2000
American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2004
Bernhard Harms Prize in 2014
Doctorat Honoris causa, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in 2014
Doctorat Honoris causa, Presidency College, Calcutta in 2019
Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 2019

The Poverty Action Lab

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of 261 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

Crédits photo : Bryce Vickmark

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