Profs. Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, along with the Abdul Latif Jamell Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT (which the two co-direct), have been awarded the 2014 Albert O. Hirschman Prize!
The Statement of Commendation, which announced the winners, says “Professors Banerjee and Duflo are receiving the Hirschman Prize not only for creating and building J-PAL but also for their own significant contributions to both research and practice. They share Albert Hirschman’s passion for promoting economic development and alleviating poverty and its disastrous effects on peoples’ lives.”
According to their webpage, the prize “is awarded by the Social Science Research Council to scholars who have made outstanding contributions to international, interdisciplinary social science research, theory, and public communication, in the tradition of German-born American economist Albert Hirschman.”
Profs. Duflo and Banerjee teach 14.73 The Challenge of World Poverty, which is available on OCW. The course site includes video lectures, writing advice, and a This Course at MIT section.
