Esther Duflo

Esther Duflo

Nobel Laureate in Economics & Pioneer in Global Poverty Alleviation

Core Intelligence Domain: Economics
Location: Cambridge, USA & Paris, France | Languages: English, French
Representation: Represented globally by PSpeakers Global Intelligence

Esther Duflo is a Nobel Laureate and one of the world’s most influential economists, renowned for her transformative approach to global poverty alleviation. As the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), she has fundamentally reshaped development economics. By pioneering the use of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to evaluate social policies, Duflo provides international institutions, governments, and corporate leaders with evidence-based frameworks to tackle the most pressing socio-economic challenges of our time, from systemic inequality to the economic impacts of climate change.

Pioneering Evidence-Based Economic Policy

Throughout her distinguished career, Esther Duflo has dedicated her research to understanding the economic lives of the poor, aiming to help design and evaluate social policies that yield tangible results. Her methodology moves beyond theoretical macroeconomic models, employing rigorous field experiments to test which interventions successfully drive progress in real-world scenarios. Under her leadership, J-PAL has grown into a formidable global network of researchers conducting hundreds of impact evaluations across multiple continents, influencing policy decisions that have directly reached over half a billion people worldwide.

In 2019, Duflo, alongside Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. She became the youngest person and only the second woman to receive this prestigious award. Her extensive catalogue of accolades also includes the John Bates Clark Medal (2010), recognising the best American economist under the age of forty, the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship (2009), and the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences.

Thought Leadership & Strategic Foresight

Esther Duflo is a highly sought-after strategic advisor and a compelling author whose insights bridge the gap between academic research and practical implementation. Together with Abhijit Banerjee, she co-authored the groundbreaking book Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, which won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. Her subsequent work, Good Economics for Hard Times, provides lucid, evidence-backed insights into how progressive economics can solve the most intractable social and political problems of the modern era, including immigration, technological disruption, trade wars, and environmental crises.

Keynote Speaking Themes

• Redefining Poverty Alleviation: Leveraging data-driven insights and randomised evaluations to design highly effective social and economic policies on a global scale.
• Good Economics for Hard Times: Navigating the macroeconomic complexities of the 21st century, including the rapid advancement of AI, shifting global trade, and demographic transitions.
• Climate Change and the Global South: Analysing the disproportionate economic impact of environmental degradation on developing nations and outlining sustainable, equitable pathways forward.
• Evidence-Based Leadership & Decision Making: How corporate and public sector leaders can apply experimental methodologies to mitigate risk, optimise resource allocation, and drive systemic innovation.
• Addressing Global Inequality: Strategic macroeconomic frameworks designed to foster inclusive economic growth, improve educational outcomes, and enhance global public health infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

• Nobel Laureate Insights: Gain unparalleled strategic foresight from the 2019 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences, backed by decades of rigorous field research.
• Proprietary Methodology: Learn to practically apply the principles of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) to business strategy, ESG initiatives, and policy development.
• Global Impact & Scale: Access actionable frameworks proven to influence large-scale socio-economic outcomes and optimise international development investments.
• Evidence-Driven Resilience: Equip leadership teams and boards with the analytical tools necessary to navigate global uncertainties, from economic volatility to the global climate transition.