Ben Olken

How do social protection programs fight poverty and protect people from shocks? How can governments and nonprofits design effective social protection programs in low- and middle-income countries? The Handbook of Social Protection, published by MIT Press and edited by J-PAL affiliates @rema_nadeem and @Ben_Olken, tackles this question. From cash transfers to health insurance, the handbook examines real-world programs and the evidence behind them. Check out the open access handbook: bit.ly/4uuTiVi

Social protection programs play an important role in society. Conditional cash transfers invest in children’s health and education and reduce intergenerational poverty, and pensions can prevent the elderly from falling into poverty, among many other examples. But what does the evidence tell us about how to design better programs? Check out the new Handbook of Social Protection edited by J-PAL affiliates @rema_nadeem & @Ben_Olken, featuring 24 chapters summarizing research insights and new directions: bit.ly/4uuTiVi

What specific factors should policymakers consider when designing social protection programs in low- and middle-income contexts? Explore this and more in the upcoming BREAD–IGC Virtual PhD Course, co-led by @rema_nadeem & @Ben_Olken, with lectures from several J-PAL researchers. 📅 Register now: theigc.org/events/bread-i…

Please submit your paper for the 2024 NBER Development Economics fall program meeting, to be held December 6. The submission deadline is September 13 at midnight eastern time. Please submit here: conference.nber.org/confsubmit/bac…

How does economic development impact political institutions and vice versa? Explore these and other questions in the #DEDP course Political Economy & Economic Development, taught by Abhijit Banerjee & @Ben_Olken. Enroll here: bit.ly/4dhWb2Q

Deadline 28 June '24 📢 LSE Environment Week, 23-26 September '24 @The_IGC @CEP_LSE @STICERD_LSE @LSEnews @asvalero Submit papers👉 buff.ly/3Vw6p7N buff.ly/3XwTp4x

Congratulations to AEJ:Applied Best Paper award winners @mdeshecon, @talgross, and @yalunsu for their paper "Disability and Distress: The Effect of Disability Programs on Financial Outcomes".

🆕 National policy reversals & deforestation in the Amazon Robin Burgess @LSEEcon @The_IGC, @_FranciscoCosta @UDLernerCollege & @Ben_Olken @MITEcon @JPAL highlight the crucial role of policy continuity & political commitment in fighting deforestation: voxdev.org/topic/energy-e…

📢 New free course exploring why & how political institutions affect economic development + applying theories & empirical techniques to real-world examples. More details on this course w/ Abhijit Banerjee & @Ben_Olken: mitxonline.mit.edu/courses/course… Teaser ⤵️ youtube.com/watch?v=zZL2qP…

Voting systems 🗳️ & the role of the media 📺 are among the topics covered in Political Economy & Economic Development, taught by @Ben_Olken & Abhijit Banerjee. Enroll to explore the relationship between political institutions & economic development: j-p.al/rt7

Please submit your paper for the 2024 NBER Development Economics Summer Institute! The deadline for all NBER Summer Institute submissions is March 21, 2024, and the call for papers is here: nber.org/calls-papers-a…

Come work with me! I'm hiring an RA to work on projects on social protection, state capacity, and climate change. Apply here: povertyactionlab.org/careers/resear…

⭐ VoxDev Talks: NEW EPISODE Today ⭐ Can we conserve the natural environment without affecting the incomes of the global poor? @Ben_Olken @MITEcon & @seema_econ @PrincetonEcon talk to @timsvengali @vox_dev. Listen & Subscribe: podfollow.com/voxdev

I am very much looking forward to hosting this exciting discussion on Monday together with @rema_nadeem. Looking forward to hearing from our panel of policy makers about challenges and opportunities in designing social protection systems in practice.

2/2 How has #SocialProtection impacted policies, practices and ideas? Learn from our guests @Rebecca1HG (@IDS_UK/@STAAR_Facility)&  @Ben_Olken (@MITEcon/@JPAL) ✅Quick Wins by Mary Imbong, socialprotection.org Ambassador 🗣Host: @gigisharpe ▶ bit.ly/SPpodcastEp30

How does economic development impact political institutions, and vice versa? Explore these and other questions in the #DEDP course Political Economy & Economic Development, taught by Abhijit Banerjee & @Ben_Olken: j-p.al/a54 #EconTwitter youtu.be/zZL2qPwEKxI

“Health insurance is supposed to provide financial protection against the medical costs of poor health. Yet many insured people still face the risk of enormous medical bills for their ‘covered’ care,” write Liran Einav and Amy Finkelstein. nyti.ms/3pRq2eO

The 2023 BREAD conference is being hosted @MITSloan @MITEcon & @JPAL this week, May 12 (Friday, all day) and May 13 (Saturday morning). It will be livestreamed! The full conference program & link to the livestream are posted here: ibread.org/conference/for…

Congratulations to AEJ:Applied Best Paper award winners @EnghinAtalay, Phai Phongthiengtham, Sebastian Sotelo, and Daniel Tannenbaum for their paper "The Evolution of Work in the United States". aeaweb.org/articles?id=10…

#EconTwitter plz rt. On July 26th (straight after NBER EEE/DEV) Clare Balboni, Namrata Kala, and I are hosting a @PEDL_CEPR workshop on Climate & Environment at @MITSloan. Please share and submit your best firms and environment papers! More details here tinyurl.com/PEDL23