Published 18:36 IST, October 14th 2019
Abhijit Banerjee: Here's why he won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics
Aditya Banerjee won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work and his contribution toward tackling global poverty through research and radical thinking
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Abhijit Banerjee, the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won the Nobel Prize in Economics on October 14 along with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. The Indian-American pursued his education at the University of Calcutta, Jawarharlal Nehru University, and acquired his Ph.D. in 1988 from Harvard University.
Contribution to tackle Global poverty
The 58-year old Nobel Laureate founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-Pal) in 2003 along with another Prize winner, Duflo with the mission to reduce poverty by ensuring policy is informed by scientific evidence. According to the foundation, the members do it through research, policy outreach, and training. J-PAL has also translated research into action, for the promotion of the culture of evidence-informed policymaking worldwide. The foundation's policy analysis and outreach have also helped governments, NGOs, donors, and the private sector apply evidence from randomised evaluations to their work, and contributes to public discourse around some of the most pressing questions in social policy and international development. The foundation has nearly a thousand ongoing as well as completed randomised evaluations in 83 countries.
In the 2019 Laureates’ early field experiments, more textbooks and free school meals had small effects, while targeted help for weak students significantly improved educational outcomes. This showed that help targeting the weakest pupils was an effective measure.#NobelPrize pic.twitter.com/auFowN9qJr
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 14, 2019
The Indian born Nobel Laureate has also written four books, one of which, 'Poor Economics' co-written by Esther Duflo was even honoured by Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. The book puts light on how the poor lives, along with describing the opportunity to think of a world beyond poverty. Banerjee combined 15 years of his research from China to India, Kenya to Indonesia, and identified various aspects of the behaviour of the poor and their needs. Banerjee also served as a United Nations Secretary-General's High-level Panel of Eminent Persons.
Radical rethinking of poverty
According to Banerjee, radically rethinking the concept of poverty is the way to fight it. The MIT professor has devoted most of his works to answer critical questions on poverty in order to make a 'dent' against global poverty. Economic Development, Information Theory, Theory of Income Distribution, and Macroeconomics are Aditya Banerjee's main fields of interest. According to the Swedish Academy, the research conducted by the Laureates have significantly improved the ability of the world to fight global poverty. In the last two decades, their experiment-based approach has transformed Development Economics. Banerjee along with Duflo has studied issues related to poverty in several countries and as a direct result of one of their research, more than five million Indian children have benefitted from effective programmes of remedial tutoring in schools. Banerjee is also a former president of the Bureau of Research in the Economic Analysis of Development, a Research Associate of the NBER, along with CEPR research.
16:48 IST, October 14th 2019