Esther Duflo

French-American economist (born 1972)

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Esther Duflo is a French-American economist born in 1972 who is known for her work in development economics and poverty research. Her research matters because it uses rigorous scientific methods to test which programs and policies actually help reduce poverty in poor countries, influencing how governments and organizations spend billions of dollars on aid and development programs.

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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). In 2019, she was jointly awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences alongside her husband Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer "for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty".

In addition to her academic appointment, Duflo is the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), an MIT-based research center promoting the use of randomized controlled trials in policy evaluation. As of 2020, more than 400 million people had been impacted by programs tested by J-PAL affiliated researchers. Since 2024, Duflo has also served as the president of the Paris School of Economics alongside her appointment at MIT. In October 2025, the University of Zurich announced that Duflo and Banerjee would be joining the faculty of the UZH School of Business, Economics, and Informatics in July 2026.