Abhijit Banerjee facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee
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Banerjee in November 2011
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| Born |
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee
21 February 1961 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
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| Citizenship | American |
| Spouse(s) |
Arundhati Tuli Banerjee
(div. 2014) |
| Institution | |
| Field | Development economics |
| Alma mater |
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| Doctoral advisor |
Eric Maskin • Andreu Mas-Colell • Jerry Green |
| Doctoral students |
Esther Duflo • Dean Karlan • João Leão • Benjamin Jones • Nancy Qian • Maitreesh Ghatak • Asim Ijaz Khwaja |
| Contributions | Randomized controlled trials |
| Awards |
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| Information at IDEAS / RePEc | |
Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee (born 21 February 1961) is an American economist who was born in India. He teaches economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also a co-founder of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). This research center uses scientific evidence to find ways to reduce poverty around the world.
In 2019, Banerjee won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He shared this award with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. They won for their new ways of studying how to help people escape poverty. Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo are married. They are the sixth married couple to win a Nobel Prize together.
Banerjee is a respected member of several important groups. These include the National Academy of Sciences. He also received a Sloan Research Fellowship in 1994. This award goes to young researchers who could change their fields. Many consider him one of the most productive economists working to fight poverty.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Abhijit Banerjee was born in Mumbai, India. His father, Dipak Banerjee, was an economics professor. His mother, Nirmala Banerjee, was also a professor.
He went to South Point School in Kolkata. People described him as a very smart but quiet student. In high school, he enjoyed literature, history, and math. He first studied math at the Indian Statistical Institute.
After one week, he switched to Presidency College in Kolkata. There, he studied economics. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1981. He especially liked studying economic history.
Later, he earned his master's degree in economics. He studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He chose this university because of its lively political discussions. He finished his master's degree in 1983.
His parents and teachers encouraged him to apply for PhD programs. He was accepted into Harvard University. No students from his previous university had ever been admitted to Harvard before. At Harvard, he focused on the economics of information for his PhD. He completed his degree in 1988.
Academic Career and Research
Abhijit Banerjee is a professor at MIT. He has also taught at Harvard University and Princeton University. His main area of study is development economics. This field looks at how countries can become richer and how to reduce poverty.
He works with Esther Duflo to use field experiments. These are like scientific tests done in real-world settings. They help economists understand what truly causes changes in people's lives.
In 2009, he won the Infosys Prize for his work in economics. In 2012, he and Esther Duflo won an award for their book, Poor Economics. This book explains their ideas about fighting poverty.
In 2013, the United Nations Secretary-General asked him to join a group of experts. Their job was to update the Millennium Development Goals. These goals aimed to improve life for people worldwide.
In 2019, he received the Nobel Prize in Economics. He shared it with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. They were honored for their new ways of using experiments to fight global poverty.
Fighting Poverty with Experiments
Banerjee and his team use a method called randomized controlled trials. This is similar to how doctors test new medicines. They divide people into groups to see what actions truly help.
For example, in India, polio vaccinations were free. But many mothers did not bring their children to get vaccinated. Banerjee and Esther Duflo tried an experiment in Rajasthan. They gave a bag of pulses (a type of food) to mothers who vaccinated their children. This simple reward made many more children get immunized.
In another study, they looked at schools. They found that students learned more when schools had teaching assistants. These assistants helped students who needed extra support. These experiments show that small changes can make a big difference.
Banerjee also co-founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). This group uses research to find effective ways to reduce poverty. He also serves on the board of Plaksha University in India.
In 2021, Banerjee wrote a cookbook called Cooking To Save Your Life.
Personal Life
Abhijit Banerjee was married to Arundhati Tuli Banerjee. They had one son. Later, they divorced.
In 2015, Banerjee married his fellow researcher, Esther Duflo. She is also a professor at MIT. They have two children together. Esther Duflo was one of Abhijit Banerjee's PhD students before they became colleagues and then married.
Awards
Abhijit Banerjee received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019. He shared it with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer. They won for their new way of using experiments to fight global poverty.
The Nobel committee said their experimental research methods are now very important in the field of development economics.
The committee also noted some of their findings:
- They found that simply adding more school days did not help students learn more.
- Spending money on textbooks did not always improve learning, even in schools that needed them.
- In India, many children learned very little. For example, in one city, fewer than one in five third-grade students could answer basic math questions for first graders.
Because of these findings, Banerjee, Duflo, and their co-authors suggested that getting more children into school is not enough. They said schools also need to improve the quality of their teaching.
In January 2020, the University of Calcutta gave him an honorary degree. In September 2022, Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo received the Golden Plate Award. This award is from the American Academy of Achievement.
See Also
In Spanish: Abhijit Banerjee para niños
- Amartya Sen, economist and the first Indian to receive a Nobel prize in the field
