Photo: Kris Krüg / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Esther Duflo is one of the few economists whose work I genuinely think changed how a whole field operates. Bringing randomized controlled trials into development economics took the discipline out of the seminar room and into the messy reality of poverty. The awards back it up, the John Bates Clark Medal, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the MIT professorship in poverty alleviation. What I find most striking is the Paris-to-MIT trajectory and the insistence on evidence over ideology. She makes economics feel like something you do, not just argue about, and that practical streak is exactly why her name carries weight.
Overview
Esther Caroline Duflo, FBA (French: [ɛstɛʁ dyflo]; born 25 October 1972) is a French-American economist currently serving as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Esther Duflo
- Name (Japanese)
- エスター・デュフロ
- Reading
- えすたー・でゅふろ
- Born
- October 25, 1972 (age 53)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Rat
- Origin
- Paris, France
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- economist / university teacher / researcher
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 2002 Sloan Fellowship
- 2002 Elaine Bennett Research Prize
- 2005 Prix du meilleur jeune économiste de France
- 2005 CNRS bronze medal
- 2009 MacArthur Fellows Program
- 2010 John Bates Clark Medal
- 2010 Fellow of the Econometric Society
- 2010 Calvó-Armengol International Prize
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Economist — see all → · University teacher — see all → · More people from France →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.