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Making schools work - the innovative research of Esther Duflo
In the past decade Esther Duflo has changed the way policy-based research can be done in the Majority World.
Who is Esther Duflo and how has she accomplished this? Esther Duflo is a development economist with a unique history and striving for positive change in the Majority World. She has been labelled a "left-of-center French intellectual with faith in redistribution and she subscribes to the optimistic notion that tomorrow might turn out better than today" in a New Yorker profile on her and her Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL-the "J" is from her co-founder Abdul Latif Jameel). Most economists who turn their attention to issues in education are conservative and often their recommendations for developing countries are irrelevant.
Esther Duflo and Martin Carnoy are two of the exceptions. Duflo studied in Paris and went on to work as a research economist in Moscow, attached to the Bank of Russia and for Jeffrey Sachs, the famous American economist. She was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a doctoral student and earned her PhD there.
The thrust of her research is to influence social-policy formation. J-PAL was born out of her work with a number of professors at MIT. At MIT, over the past decade, J-PAL has been part of over 200 field experiments in various parts of the world.
Their approach has been inspired by large-scale studies in medicine to test new drugs that are double blind and have tight controls and this lead to them being called the "randomistas". They believe that poverty can be eliminated and the world made a better place to live in.
J-PAL has worked in many areas, from microfinance to education. The studies have been very influential. They are so large scale it is not easy to dismiss them, though there have been distracters. Some of her studies have explored concepts that have served to make the intellectual framework for further research. One explored whether or not the poor were capable of making rationale decisions about their economic behaviour.
If poverty is to be eliminated a theory about how the poor make decision is required. In Poor but Rational (2003) she writes, "Being poor almost certainly affects the way people think and decide. Perhaps when choices involve the subsistence of one's family, trade-offs are distorted in different ways than when the question is how much money one will enjoy at retirement. Pressure by extended family members or neighbours is also stronger when they are at risk of starvation. Or, decision making may be influenced by stress."
In a recent article, "The Experimental Approach to Development Economics", Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo explain their approaches. They conclude, "It is this process of 'creative experimentation', where policymakers and researchers work together to think out of the box and learn from successes and failures, that is the most valuable contribution of the recent surge in experimental work in economics."
The next Issues will look at six of the 206 studies carried out over the years by J-PAL in an effort to tease out the relevance and lessons for Botswana. There is one from Indonesia, three from India, and two from Kenya, all related to educational issues in Botswana. Schooling and Labour Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia (2000) covers 60 000 new schools built between 1973 and 1978. What was the impact over time on future wages of the pupils? Can benefits be demonstrated as resulting from the new schools?
Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomised Experiments in India (2006) considers a programme to assist primary school children who are "lagging behind" to catch up? Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomised Evaluation in Education in India (2008) looks at the participation of both parents and locally elected leaders in schools.
Three different ways to achieve Universal Primary Education are evaluated in this controlled experiment. Incentives Work: Getting Teachers to Come to School in India (2010) explores whether or not financial incentives can be used to reduce absenteeism and increase pupil learning?
Additional Resources versus Organizational Changes in Education: Experimental Evidence from Kenya (2009) considers teacher-pupil ratios and the way teachers teach. Which change is effective as measured by standardised test scores? Peer Effects, Teacher Incentives, and the Impact of Tracking: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Kenya (2009) considers tracking (streaming) versus non-tracking compared across a sample of schools to assess the comparative benefits of the two systems.
In the past decade Esther Duflo has changed the way policy-based research can be done in the Majority World.
Who is Esther Duflo and how has she accomplished this? Esther Duflo is a development economist with a unique history and striving for positive change in the Majority World. She has been labelled a "left-of-center French intellectual with faith in redistribution and she subscribes to the optimistic notion that tomorrow might turn out better than today" in a New Yorker profile on her and her Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL-the "J" is from her co-founder Abdul Latif Jameel). Most economists who turn their attention to issues in education are conservative and often their recommendations for developing countries are irrelevant.
Esther Duflo and Martin Carnoy are two of the exceptions. Duflo studied in Paris and went on to work as a research economist in Moscow, attached to the Bank of Russia and for Jeffrey Sachs, the famous American economist. She was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a doctoral student and earned her PhD there.
The thrust of her research is to influence social-policy formation. J-PAL was born out of her work with a number of professors at MIT. At MIT, over the past decade, J-PAL has been part of over 200 field experiments in various parts of the world.
Their approach has been inspired by large-scale studies in medicine to test new drugs that are double blind and have tight controls and this lead to them being called the "randomistas". They believe that poverty can be eliminated and the world made a better place to live in.
J-PAL has worked in many areas, from microfinance to education. The studies have been very influential. They are so large scale it is not easy to dismiss them, though there have been distracters. Some of her studies have explored concepts that have served to make the intellectual framework for further research. One explored whether or not the poor were capable of making rationale decisions about their economic behaviour.
If poverty is to be eliminated a theory about how the poor make decision is required. In Poor but Rational (2003) she writes, "Being poor almost certainly affects the way people think and decide. Perhaps when choices involve the subsistence of one's family, trade-offs are distorted in different ways than when the question is how much money one will enjoy at retirement. Pressure by extended family members or neighbours is also stronger when they are at risk of starvation. Or, decision making may be influenced by stress."
In a recent article, "The Experimental Approach to Development Economics", Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo explain their approaches. They conclude, "It is this process of 'creative experimentation', where policymakers and researchers work together to think out of the box and learn from successes and failures, that is the most valuable contribution of the recent surge in experimental work in economics."
The next Issues will look at six of the 206 studies carried out over the years by J-PAL in an effort to tease out the relevance and lessons for Botswana. There is one from Indonesia, three from India, and two from Kenya, all related to educational issues in Botswana. Schooling and Labour Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia (2000) covers 60 000 new schools built between 1973 and 1978. What was the impact over time on future wages of the pupils? Can benefits be demonstrated as resulting from the new schools?
Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomised Experiments in India (2006) considers a programme to assist primary school children who are "lagging behind" to catch up? Pitfalls of Participatory Programs: Evidence from a Randomised Evaluation in Education in India (2008) looks at the participation of both parents and locally elected leaders in schools.
Three different ways to achieve Universal Primary Education are evaluated in this controlled experiment. Incentives Work: Getting Teachers to Come to School in India (2010) explores whether or not financial incentives can be used to reduce absenteeism and increase pupil learning?
Additional Resources versus Organizational Changes in Education: Experimental Evidence from Kenya (2009) considers teacher-pupil ratios and the way teachers teach. Which change is effective as measured by standardised test scores? Peer Effects, Teacher Incentives, and the Impact of Tracking: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Kenya (2009) considers tracking (streaming) versus non-tracking compared across a sample of schools to assess the comparative benefits of the two systems.
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Also check the articles from L'EXPRESS (in French):
Esther Duflo: "Il faut penser la pauvreté autrement" (Esther Duflo: "Poverty has to be thought differently")
Esther Duflo: "Il faut penser la pauvreté autrement" (Esther Duflo: "Poverty has to be thought differently")
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/economie/esther-duflo-il-faut-penser-la-pauvrete-autrement_951695.html
Le chercheur, les pauvres et l'entreprise (The Researcher, the Poors and the Company)
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/economie/le-chercheur-les-pauvres-et-l-entreprise_953567.html
Le chercheur, les pauvres et l'entreprise (The Researcher, the Poors and the Company)
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/economie/le-chercheur-les-pauvres-et-l-entreprise_953567.html
About the relationship between school attendance and deworming programs:
http://www.dewormtheworld.org/learn_07.html
http://www.schoolsandhealth.org/Pages/Whydewormthroughschools.aspx
http://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/primary-school-deworming-kenya
