A 'Rising Star' in Economics
Ever wonder why some development projects succeed while others fail?
Esther Duflo and her colleagues at MIT’s Poverty Action Lab are working on the answer. Duflo is one of the newest recipients of the MacArthur Genius Grant because of her commitment to investigating what causes poverty to persist in some developing countries and what works to alleviate it.
She does this by setting up controlled field experiments in some of the poorest countries in Africa and South Asia. These experiments set out to prove how social and economic forces fuel the cycle of poverty in these areas. They also test how effective foreign aid projects are at lifting people out of poverty.
Duflo conducts her experiments using a method that mimics how drug companies conduct randomized medical trials. One group participates in a development project while the other does not. The differences between them are then measured to see if the project worked, and exactly how well.
Some of Duflo’s best known work is on HIV prevention in Kenya. Her research shows it’s more effective to teach girls specific ways to reduce their risk — like avoiding sexual relations with older men — than teaching basic medical facts about HIV and emphasizing abstinence as the best method of prevention. As she explains in her recent article for VoxEU.org, girls who were given risk-reduction information now use condoms more often, stay in school longer, and become pregnant less often.
“Economics is about the best way to allocate resources, and finding out what works is important to understanding how to allocate these resources,” Duflo told Philanthropy Action. Too few development strategies are vigorously tested. Proving what works can help.
(For more information on the Poverty Action Lab, check out Sarah Standish’s post "Researching Better Ways to End Poverty.")
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A message from Esther Duflo, regarding attribution
Thanks for this article. One small correction though.
What the post refers to as "my best known work" (the work on relative risk information for girls in Kenya) is actually not mine, though I certainly agree with you it is extremely important (and perhaps it would be my best known work if it were mine...)
I have done work on HIV Aids prevention, but this particular study is by Pascaline Dupas. You can find on her web page, along with several other important paper using the same methods
http://www.econ.ucla.edu/pdupas/
While you're browing Pascaline's page, you should also check out a fascinating study using the same method: Pascaline and her co-author, Jessica Cohen, study whether giving away bednet leads to lower use. They don't find it is the case. This study has been influential in changing the general perception that bednets needed to be sold to avoid waste.
Esther Duflo
A relply to Esther Duflo
Esther,
Wow! Thank you for commenting. One of the best things (among many) about applying these controlled random experiments to development projects is that it can prove or disprove "general perceptions". Your and Pascaline Dupas's work is opening many doorways and has the potential to truly impact how the world "does development". On a more personal note, it is great to see other women contributing to the economics field - this has definitely inspired me to gain more quantitative skills.
I also want to thank you for drawing my attention to Pascaline Dupas's role in relative risk information study in Kenya and to her website. She deserves credit for her impressive research.
Jill Scantlan
In treating global poverty,
In treating global poverty, too often decision makers treat the symptoms rather than the causes, because these approaches are cheaper, require little commitment, and are more immediate. However, using experimental study methods to prove which is more effective might be just the evidence they need to take a new approach, but it needs to be complemented with economic incentives. To show governments that using aid for education rather than material goods is more cost effective in the long run would be very powerful. The only problem is: how do we interest them in the plight of future generations?
I find this article to be
I find this article to be very refreshing. All too often governments tend to pour money into impoverished areas without conducting proper research as to what the economic causes are. If we can begin to focus on the roots of the problem instead of its effects, we have the ability to create a more sustainable economic environment.
Similarly, it is important to have a proper understanding of the culture itself. As mentioned in the article, it was found to be "more effective to teach girls specific ways to reduce their risk — like avoiding sexual relations with older men — than teaching basic medical facts about HIV and emphasizing abstinence as the best method of prevention." This could largely be due to the fact that medical terminology and concepts are not commonly used in such impoverished areas. The degree to which the culture is understood, greatly influences the effectiveness of education.
While I applaud the effort to
While I applaud the effort to learn what works to reduce poverty, as pointed out, without an in-depth understanding of the culture, I doubt any advancements can be made.
Other areas field experiments could be useful
The debate over whether field experiments should be used to establish (or even test) theories about behaviour is a nuanced one, and the exchange here captures many fine points. One additional issue is whether field experiments have 'external validity': given that field experiments necessarily take place in a specific geographic and political setting, the extent to which findings can be extrapolated to formulate a general theory regarding behavior is a concern. Context, after all, is crucial.
To me, identifying these issues does not equate to the negation of field experiments as a source of knowledge; on the contrary, I think acknowledging these nuances can help us absorb the results of such experiments with more caution. The value of the methodology, however, is substantial. One other area where it could be applied is to establish the relationship between aid and security. This is something Andrew Wilder has been researching thoroughly in Afghanistan. Using field experiments for this purpose may be particularly instructive.
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