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  4. Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession
  5. About CSWEP
  6. 2002 Elaine Bennett Research Prize

2002 Elaine Bennett Research Prize

Dr. Esther Duflo
Recipient of the 2002 Elaine Bennett Research Prize

Dr. Esther Duflo, the Castle Krob Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at MIT, is this year's Elaine Bennett Prize winner. Esther Duflo specializes in development economics, focusing her studies on the broad range of issues that affect economic and social structures in developing countries. She received a MA in economics from the Ecole Normale Superieure in 1995 and a Ph.D. from MIT in 1999. Her research has focused on such issues as household behavior, educational choice and returns to education, policy evaluation, decentralization, industrial organization in developing countries and credit constraints. She continues to explore the many ways that women impact the economies of the countries in which they live in roles ranging from caretaker to political leader. Since completing her Ph.D. at MIT in 1999, Dr. Duflo has published papers in prestigious journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics and Journal of Public Economics, has presented papers around the world, and in 2002 was promoted to the Castle Krob Associate Professor position in the Department of Economics at MIT.

The Elaine Bennett Research Prize was established in 1999 to recognize and honor outstanding research in any field of economics by a woman at the beginning of her career. The prize is given in honor of Elaine Bennett, who mentored many women economists at the start of their careers and made significant contributions to economic theory and experimental economics during her short professional career. The previous winners of this prize are Susan Athey of Stanford University and Judith Chevalier of Yale University.

CSWEP represents women's points of views in the committee work of the American Economic Association (AEA), monitors the progress of women within the profession, and makes an annual report to the AEA on the status of women in economics. CSWEP associates are women and men in the diverse areas of the profession - in academe, government and business.

For further information, please contact: Francine D. Blau, Chair of CSWEP.