Benjamin A. Olken - CERP

Benjamin A. Olken

Research Fellow

Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Benjamin A. Olken

Research Fellow

Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Benjamin A. Olken

Research Fellow

Benjamin Olken is a Research Fellow at CERP. He is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focuses on development economics, with a particular interest in improving the performance of the public sector in developing countries, including social protection programs, taxation, and quality of governance, and on environmental challenges in developing countries and his research focuses on the political economy of developing countries with a particular focus on corruption. He is involved in several randomized evaluations in Indonesia that seek to reduce corruption and improve the targeting of programs that provide local public goods to villages He is a Director of J-PAL, Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia, and Co-Chair of J-PAL’s Political Economy & Governance sector and Co-Chair of the J-PAL’s Social Protection Initiative. He is the Editor of the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, and co-Director of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Development Economics Program. Dr Benjamin received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 2004 and his BA summa cum laude as a double major in Mathematics and Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University in 1997. In 1997-1998 he was a Henry Luce Scholar, living in Jakarta, Indonesia.