Meet the Researchers

As featured in Nature, Faculty Affiliate Susan Athey is investigating low-cost scalable interventions to improve the quality of information circulating online.

In this episode on Radio New Zealand, Faculty Affiliate Gretchen Daily shares how traditional systems of wealth measurement don't include nature's contributions.

The research serves as a crucial empirical foundation for addressing health disparities and improving outcomes for individuals in the poorest segments of global society.

A study debunks the belief that cardiovascular diseases are low among the poor; major risk factors have a significant prevalence across all sections, regardless of income.

Faculty Affiliate Ami Bhatt has been supporting Nigerian cervical cancer prevention efforts since 2015 alongside global partners and Stanford colleagues and students.

A study co-authored by Faculty Affiliate Pascal Geldsetzer, featured in Nature, could inform equity discussions for resource allocation and design of effective interventions.

In VoxDev, incoming Faculty Director Katherine Casey highlights an experiment in Sierra Leone, which sheds light on which systems of leadership selection are most effective.

In VoxDev, Alessandra Voena highlights data that suggests aligning perceived and actual views may be a promising policy intervention to raise female labour force participation.

Faculty Affiliate Patricia Bromley speaks on a FreshEd podcast about the World Education Reform Database she co-developed.

A study co-authored by Faculty Affiliates Eric Lambin and Jenna Davis found almost no agreement among four widely used poverty measurement approaches.

A Medium audio interview with Faculty Affiliate Susan Athey describes how her lab uses technology and social science to improve the effectiveness of social sector organizations.

A new model co-built by Faculty Affiliate Erica Plambeck taps into the power of cooperation to promote sustainable palm oil production in Indonesia.

A team led by Faculty Affiliate Manu Prakash has found the absorption capacity of a sisal-based material to be higher than those in commercial menstrual pads.

Faculty Affiliate Gretchen Daily shares with MIT Technology Review her work on making the environment more of an element in economic decision-making.

Faculty Affiliate Eran Bendavid aims to identify mitigation strategies and assess the global burden and future risks of tropical cyclones, as per his article in Nature.

In VoxDev, Faculty Affiliate Eric Hanushek and co-authors address questions around the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of universal quality education.

The King Center's initiative on lead was featured in The Economist for their research which led to a complete elimination of lead-contaminated turmeric in Bangladesh.

Incoming Faculty Director Katherine Casey discusses if delegation to technocrats or inclusive decision-making can improve local development outcomes in Sierra Leone.

The center's initiative on reducing lead exposure combined epidemiology and management to confront a growing threat from lead-acid batteries in electric vehicles.

Members of a King Center initiative investigate possible trafficking sites in Brazil while working to expand an AI database designed to find illegal camps more efficiently.

King Center undergraduate research assistant Thay Graciano spent her summer in Brazil with faculty members and researchers of the Stanford Human Trafficking Data Lab.

Faculty Affiliate Alison Hoyt is working in a multidisciplinary team of researchers across Stanford to measure emissions of a potent greenhouse gas in extreme conditions.

A study co-authored by Jade Benjamin-Chung reveals better nutrition during pregnancy and childbearing years is critical to protect children in their first 1,000 days.

Affiliated researcher Jenna Forsyth and Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby worked with the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority to eliminate lead-contaminated turmeric in the country.

A King Center-supported initiative successfully reduced lead adulteration in turmeric in Bangladesh from 47% to 0% in two years.

A study co-authored by Faculty Affiliate David Lobell shows that the intensifying withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation by farmers in India threatens food and water security.

King Center undergraduate research assistant Claire Morton and Faculty Affiliate David Lobell investigated how adding minerals to farmland soil affects children's health.

The Conflict and Polarization initiative examined whether engaging in trade can deepen trust by encouraging Israelis to invest in a range of Israeli and Palestinian companies.

Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke and former Postdoctoral Fellow Brandon de la Cuesta studied the impacts of a program in Ecuador that put induction stoves in 750,000 households.

In Stanford News, Faculty Affiliates Erin Mordecai and Desiree LaBeaud discuss what we know and how communities can protect themselves from these changing disease threats.

Faculty Affiliate Jason Andrews, who has been researching tuberculosis in Brazilian prisons, discusses why treating TB in prison is critical to combatting the disease worldwide.

A King Center-supported initiative focused on reducing lead exposure was featured in Undark for their research in Bangladesh, which resulted in government intervention.

Faculty Affiliate Jade Benjamin-Chung was awarded the Dr. George Rosenkranz Prize by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Health Policy.

Faculty Affiliate Alessandra Voena and her co-authors write in CEPR about their findings on the misconceptions of gender norms across the world.

Faculty Director Pascaline Dupas shares insights from her recent working paper analyzing the state health insurance program in Rajasthan, India.

Research funding recipient Ceyenna Tillman shares what led her to study the oceans, and why the next generation of ocean scholars must define the field more broadly.

Learn how this organizational sociologist is constantly cooking up new ideas to inspire curiosity and generosity — for himself and others — in the kitchen and the classroom.

Faculty Affiliates Stephen Luby, Desiree LaBeaud, and Jade Benjamin-Chung discuss their work in finding solutions to the urgent problems of planetary and human health.

Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby and affiliated researcher Jenna Forysth discuss their research on hunting for the sources of lead poisoning in Bangladesh.

Faculty Affiliate Giulio De Leo's research on schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease, takes him to the Senegal River, where introducing prawns may help combat the parasite.

Postdoc Juan Felipe Riaño writes in VoxDev that family ties to non-elected bureaucrats distort public employment outcomes, and standard anti-nepotism policies are ineffective.

In a new study in Rajasthan, Faculty Director Pascaline Dupas investigates whether informing patients of their benefits helps hold hospitals accountable.

Faculty Affiliate Erin Mordecai explains why warmer and wetter weather will mean more tropical illnesses far beyond the tropics.

Meet the organizational sociologist, avid indoor rower, New England Patriots fan, mystery lover, and K-drama fan (at least while he’s rowing his 10,000 daily meters).

With the risk of mosquito-borne disease expected to grow with climate change, Faculty Affiliate Desiree LaBeaud reveals the factors that put communities at risk for such illnesses.

Only a handful of economies have risen from middle- to high-income status, Faculty Affiliate Scott Rozelle examines how China compares to other middle-income countries.

Faculty Affiliate Jenna Davis on water and sanitation challenges: “A lot of the obstacles have nothing to do with technology and very little to do with money or knowledge.”

Stanford postdoctoral scholar Catherine Thomas writes in VoxDev how special "graduated" interventions were found to be effective.

A recent study of Chinese entrepreneurs identifies the strategies that are required for success at different stages of a country’s transition to a market economy.

Professor Xueguang Zhou talks about his new book that sets out to answer this question, 'The Logic of Governance in China: An Organizational Approach'.

Research by PhD student Nina Buchmann shows that physical proximity to pathogen-free water sources reduces child and adult mortality.

Professor Pascaline Dupas' research on the link between health and education in India is featured in APN News.

Faculty Affiliate Beatriz Magaloni provides important evidence that police organizations are vulnerable to populist demands for harsh police methods that violate the rule of law.

Using AI to analyze satellite images, researchers say it’s possible to spot illegal deforestation and forced labor in the Amazon rainforest.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Desiree LaBeaud made a surprising discovery in Kenya: A sample of fresh milk harbored the deadly virus that causes Rift Valley fever.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Pascaline Dupas shows that offering coupons for free chlorine is an effective way to increase water treatment and prevent waterborne diseases.

Demand for insurance is high even at the actuarially fair price and receiving it alongside peers increases utilization, yet health effects are elusive.

Researchers of the Data for Development initiative introduce machine learning applied to satellite imagery as a solution to measuring sustainable development globally.

New analysis shows crop yields could increase by about 25% in China and up to 10% in other parts of the world if emissions of a common air pollutant decreased by about half.

The Stanford epidemiologist and King Center Faculty Affiliate reacts to recent news about the effects of plastic on human health.

Affiliated researcher Michael Machala, PhD '17, developed a solar-powered technology to improve the quality and quantity of dried agricultural produce in India.

Faculty Affiliate Gary Darmstadt talks about improvements in the infant mortality rate worldwide and what work remains to be done.

Ageing pipe systems and the absence of complementary sanitation investments compromise the health benefits of water disinfection research from King Center Faculty Affiliates show.

Promising technologies for converting wastewater into drinkable water produce a chemical compound that can be toxic, corrosive and malodorous.

Modifying traditional infant massages led to more weight gain and fewer illnesses among newborns in a Stanford-led community study in India.

The Stanford Medicine professor on why it’s important to better understand the microbiome of people transitioning from traditional to Westernized lifestyles.

Karen Eggleston documents how the pandemic’s broad social and economic consequences negatively affected population health well beyond those directly suffering from COVID-19.

These environmental engineers tell Stereo Chemistry about their visions for the future of our water . . . and share some laughs along the way

Stanford infectious disease expert Jason Andrews has spent years studying the spread of tuberculosis in crowded Brazilian prisons and surrounding communities.

Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke has focused his research on quantifying the social and environmental impacts of climate change.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Christopher Tonetti shows that competition from imports pushes domestic laggards to adopt more efficient practices and technologies.

Faculty Affiliate Lawrence Goulder writes for the World Economic Forum about China's new carbon market, the world's largest.

A new study by the Immigration Policy Lab shows that some governments are trying to make moving easier within Africa.

Policy interventions to stop deforestation are most effective when enacted in a certain order, according to a new Stanford study.

Research in Kenya by Faculty Affiliate Dana Foarta shows that when voters receive payments, politicians are given greater leniency, and in turn steal more.

Susan Athey and a team of economists have been pushing for an unprecedented expansion of vaccine capacity.

A new analysis by Faculty Affiliates Stephen Luby and Michael Biaocchi finds evidence of a link between air pollution and children’s respiratory health in low-income settings.

Masks, especially surgical ones, substantially reduce the risk of getting Covid-19 says Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby.

Gender-targeted strategies are needed to improve health care for women under India’s universal medical insurance program.

Postdoctoral Fellow Augustin Bergeron discussed his research on tax collection in the Democratic Republic of Congo on the InequaliTalks Podcast.

Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby talks about the deadly Nipah virus outbreak in India and why it should concern everyone.

Researchers found that surgical masks impede the spread of COVID-19 and that just a few, low-cost interventions increase mask-wearing compliance.

Unrest and climate change are creating an agonizing feedback loop that punishes some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Affiliated Researcher Shelby Grossman speaks with Nigeria's The Avalon Radio about her new book on private governance in Lagos markets.

Postdoctoral Fellow Augustin Bergeron finds that optimizing the assignment of tax collectors significantly increases tax revenue and compliance at little or no added cost

A recent The Times of India article highlights research by Pascaline Dupas suggesting that even when banking is accessible, families still do not open savings accounts.

Faculty Affiliate Erik Jensen discusses the state of legal education in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of troops from the still struggling country.

Faculty Affiliates Michele Barry, Stephen Luby, and Manu Prakash are working to protect health care workers in low-resourced Bangladesh.

Gretchen Daily is a pioneer in the field known as “natural capital.” Using science and software, she shows stakeholders why it benefits everyone to prioritize conservation.

In China, the college entrance exam score is predictive for both firm success and wage-job success in the future, yet higher-score individuals are less likely to create firms.

Political scientist Yiqing Xu explains his “new-ish” methods for studying the dynamics of politics in China.

Faculty Affiliate Karen Eggleston developed a new simulation model to tackle diabetes and prediabetes among Chinese and East Asian populations.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Karen Eggleston indicates that enhanced financial coverage for catastrophic medical expenditures increased health care access.

Faculty Affiliate Jennifer Pan talks about her new book "Welfare for Autocrats: How Social Assistance in China Cares for Its Rulers."

In a Q&A, Stanford economists discuss the importance of this number and its role in creating environmental policies.

A recent paper in the American Economic Review by Faculty Affiliate Katherine Casey examines candidate selection in Sierra Leone elections.

Research by Faculty Affiliates Desiree LaBeaud and Erin Mordecai is featured in Stanford Magazine about disease transmission between insects, animals, and humans.

A study by Faculty Affiliate Karen Eggleston documents the adverse effects of COVID-19 on people with chronic conditions in India.

Faculty Affiliate Florencia Torche uncovers evidence to show the benefits of marriage to child development.

In an opinion piece, Faculty Director Pascaline Dupas outlines her study of Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana, a government health insurance program.

In Broadstreet, Faculty Affiliate Saumitra Jha considers when nonviolence has failed in India.

Fewer people means fewer ideas: The Economist highlights a recent paper by Faculty Affiliate Chad Jones on the unintended consequences of a declining population.

Despite aquaculture’s potential to feed a growing world population, the industry has been plagued by questions about its environmental impacts.

Postdoctoral Fellow Nirvikar Jassal writes in The Hindu Business Line about his research on representation in India's criminal justice system.

High scorers in the gaokao go to better universities and earn higher wages says Faculty Affiliate Hongbin Li.

The introduction of financial institutions in communities may generate long-lasting externalities, says Faculty Affiliate Arun Chandrasekhar.

Economists have developed an emerging body of evidence that holds important lessons for overcoming COVID-19 information constraints and building trust in health systems.

Faculty Affiliate Jennifer Pan examines how China's major social assistance program, dibao, has been used to quell dissent.

In a seminar course taught by Faculty Affiliate Erin Mordecai, students explored how vector-borne diseases have influenced history.

Faculty Affiliate Saumitra Jha discusses how networks of influential individuals helped destroy one of the world’s most durable democracies.

Stanford researchers find installing piped water near homes promotes gender equality and improves well-being in rural Zambia.

A large public health program in rural India improved maternal and child health in its pilot phase, but was at risk of leaving behind the most-disadvantaged participants.

People are less likely to ask questions in their communities if it exposes the limits of their knowledge, says Faculty Affiliate Arun Chandrasekhar.

In Broadstreet, Postdoctoral Fellow Sara Lowes examines recent work in economics that explores how historical experiences shape trust in medicine and vaccination rates.

Survey data from the Immigration Policy Lab and the King Center's Migration & Development Initiative shows that many refugees may be reluctant to return home.

China’s minimum living standard guarantee, known as ‘dibao’, was conceived as a social safety net, but over time it has transformed into a means to control 'targeted populations.'

Addressing the epidemic of chronic diseases in India and other low- and middle-income countries requires comprehensive evidence on the cost-effectiveness of health interventions.

Radhika Jain, a King Center affiliated researcher, shares her insights into India's healthcare system and how the country is responding to COVID-19.

Faculty Affiliate and Earth System Science professor Marshall Burke spoke with Dulcé Sloan, a correspondent for The Daily Show, about the economic cost of climate change.

Faculty Affiliate Karen Eggleston spoke with BusinessWorld about the challenges of longevity on healthcare systems.

Faculty Affiliate Scott Rozelle explains why China’s wealth gap may make the transition from a middle- to high-income country more difficult than it seems.

Stanford epidemiologist and Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby discusses surprising results of a recent study on the Nipah virus and how it could inform the response to COVID-19.

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) professors and King Center Faculty Affiliates Saumitra Jha and Hayagreeva Rao offer guidance on how to minimize workplace confrontations.

Caring for people’s health is a prescription for protecting rainforests, slowing climate change and creating significant monetary value, according to a new Stanford-led study.

Postdoctoral Fellow Nirvikar Jassal discusses his research on policing in India.

A study by King Center Faculty Director Pascaline Dupas and Postdoctoral Fellow Radhika Jain shows a 25% rise in mortality during lockdown.

Evidence from Ethiopia shows that interning in a management role for a month leads to higher wage earnings and can help some people run profitable businesses.

Graduate student Christiana Parreira writes in the Washington Post about her research showing that ideologically opposed parties rarely share power well.

Low self-confidence may keep women from persuading family members that they should enter the workplace, despite wanting to work themselves.

A new paper by Faculty Affiliates Jennifer Pan and Yiqing Xu showed that racist, anti-Chinese taunts boost support for the Chinese regime from an unexpected group.

Artisans who are attached to their creative output offer discounts to discerning buyers, even when these buyers have a high willingness to pay.

Faculty Affiliate Scott Rozelle spoke with CNN Business about China's 2020 poverty alleviation goals and the impact COVID-19 is having on achieving them.

A study by Faculty Affiliates Marshall Burke and Eran Bendavid focuses on the impact of air pollution on infant mortality.

Faculty Affiliate Jennifer Pan talks with The New York Times about authoritarian censorship in China.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Eric Lambin reveals that subsidies for tree plantations in Chile resulted in the loss of biologically valuable natural forests.

Faculty Affiliate Desiree LaBeaud speaks to Stanford journalism student Matthew Vollrath about the likely increase of vector-borne diseases as climate change intensifies.

Postdoc Meredith Startz talks on the Trade Talks podcast about her trade research in Lagos, Nigeria, and how COVID-19 is affecting Lagos traders.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, another source of deadly and increasingly frequent disease outbreaks goes largely unnoticed by much of the world.

Taking a new approach Faculty Affiliate William Tarpeh has created a device that could make converting seawater to freshwater profitable and environmentally benign.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Jason Andrews speaks to The Economist about the spread of COVID-19 in developing countries.

COVID-19 and other looming threats could make it much harder for people to access food says Faculty Affiliate David Lobell.

Working on several possible COVID-19 solutions, bioengineer Manu Prakash and his lab stress their obligation to produce careful and meticulous work.

Faculty Affiliate Jennifer Pan discusses how a neighborhood monitoring system is at the heart of restrictions imposed "at the expense of public autonomy and vitality."

In Uganda, loss of forested habitat increases the likelihood of interactions between disease-carrying wild primates and humans.

How many people have been infected with the new coronavirus? A group of Bay Area researchers aims to find out—by tracking what's in the local wastewater.

Stanford professor Jenna Davis explains using a counterfactual approach to assess the effect of a district-scale safe water strategy.

PhD candidate James Winter discusses his research on water quality impacts of on-plot piped water systems in Zambia households.

Faculty Affiliate Michael Baiocchi tackled the job of designing a challenging randomized controlled trial.

Research on the effects of air pollution by Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke is featured in The Guardian.

Faculty Affiliate Scott Rozelle find that the lockdowns in China were successful in protecting rural areas from COVID infections, but that the cost was severe.

How the ruling Community Party manages the coming months will help shape how hundreds of millions of young people see its authoritarian political bargain for decades to come.

Faculty Affiliate Alexandria Boehm describe potential transmission pathways of COVID-19 and their implications.

Listen to Faculty Affiliates Marshall Burke and Nicholas Bloom on Freakonomics Radio

Researchers found that farms with diverse crops planted together provide more secure, stable habitats for wildlife.

Traditional efforts to understand and predict the location of schistosomiasis snail populations involve taking samples at villagers’ water access points.

Sociology professor Xueguang Zhou discussed the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Faculty Affiliate Giulio De Leo speaks with KQED about the interconnectedness of human and animal ecosystems.

Hear Faculty Affiliate Manu Prakash on NPR talk about the Foldscope, a low-cost microscope aimed at making scientific tools available for everyone.

A new study identifies varying pathways of drinking water contamination, suggesting multiple types of public health interventions are needed to protect communities.

Faculty Affiliate Desiree LaBeaud talks with Stanford Medicine Magazine about studying insects that spread dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

New experiments suggest that with climate change, production in major rice-growing regions with endemic soil arsenic will undergo a dramatic decline.

King Center Faculty Affiliate Andrew Walder finds that China’s Cultural Revolution was a rebellion that unfolded from within the party state.

A new study co-authored by King Center Faculty Affiliate Erin Mordecai found a direct relationship between deforestation and the transmission of malaria by mosquitoes.

By discerning patterns in satellite imagery, five King Center faculty affiliates hope to assist poverty-stricken regions.

New research from Faculty Affiliate Eric Lambin shows that transnational corporations are changing their business models to acknowledge their impact on climate and biodiversity.

Faculty Affiliate Manu Prakash is featured in The Atlantic about a new high-speed, malaria-detecting device called Octopi that he developed at Stanford

Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby finds that an automatic chlorine dispenser installed at shared community water points reduces rates of diarrhea in children.

A new Stanford study supported by the King Center found that new refugees were more likely to find work if they live within a community of people who share their nationality.

Restoring ecological interactions may hold the key to poverty alleviation and disease reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa, a new study finds.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Grant Miller is highlighted on National Public Radio

A recent study from Marshall Burke shows that climate change has dragged down growth in the poorest nations whilst likely boosting prosperity in some of the richest.

A new study co-authored by Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke shows global warming has increased economic inequality since the 1960s.

Research by Faculty Affiliate Gretchen Daily shows that Chinese farmers who took environmental concerns into account doubled their income

Suicide rates increase in warmer temperatures, leading to concerns about an uptick in suicides as Earth continues to warm.

Stanford researchers explore how crop nutrition — zinc and iron, for instance — will respond to climate change and what that means for human health.

Restoring native crustaceans along West Africa’s Senegal River may be a critical step in controlling one of the world’s deadliest tropical diseases.

Removing barriers to internal migration can boost a country’s productivity, albeit modestly and with heterogonous effects on original populations

Widespread cultivation of oil palm trees has been both an economic boon and an environmental disaster for tropical developing-world countries.

Faculty Affiliate Scott Rozelle is quoted in the LA Times about the nearly 70 million Chinese children who are "left behind" in China's education system.

On National Public Radio, Faculty Affiliate Melanie Morten examined the economic effects of 2006 Secure Fence Act.

In a recent paper, Faculty Affiliate Jens Hainmueller and his co-authors showed that lean manufacturing in the apparel industry had the side benefit of improving labor standards.

Faculty Affiliate Paul Wise speaks about the horrific impact of civil war on the children of Yemen, including preventable cholera epidemics.

Faculty Affiliate Lawrence Goulder says that the Paris riots are a sign that the challenges to slowing climate change are event greater than previously imagined.

Faculty Affiliate Stephen Luby wants the focus of World Toilet Day to be less about toilets and more about the improvement of sanitation systems.

While most business research in the developing world focuses on finance, Stanford professor Steve Anderson is testing a different set of interventions: marketing.

Faculty Affiliate Katherine Casey found that identifying and promoting talented technocrats outside traditional hierarchies can catalyze local economic development.

Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke is among the Stanford experts who discuss the linkages between climate change and health.

Faculty Affiliate Scott Rozelle co-authored an article for the East Asia Forum about the policies and innovations that have contributed to agricultural reform.

Faculty Affiliate Eran Bendavid authored a study showing that armed conflict substantially increases the risk of death of young children.

In the Washington Post, Faculty Affiliate Saumitra Jha found that giving Israelis an opportunity to trade stocks made them much more willing to negotiate with the Palestinians.

Using documents in the Hoover Institution archives, Faculty Affiliate Lisa Blaydes examined life in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

Faculty Affiliate Yvonne Maldonado is quoted in CNN about the difficulty of eradicating polio.

A new Stanford study co-authored by Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke shows that improving air quality in sub-Saharan Africa could provide benefits to infant health.

Faculty Affiliate Jennifer Pan found that citizen complaints of corruption in one Chinese city were routinely concealed from senior authorities who could have taken action.

Faculty Affiliate epidemiologist Stephen Luby explains risk factors of the recent outbreak of Nipah virus in South India.

Economist Nicholas Bloom and his team revisit a management consulting intervention in India from nearly a decade ago to discover that it has had lasting effects.

A new study by Faculty Affiliate Saumitra Jha found that investing in stocks may promote peacemaking among Israelis and Palestinians.

Family planning programs in developing countries that offer contraceptives and reproductive health advice do more than prevent pregnancies.

A new big data analysis spanning 200 years of patents shows that innovation bursts in the 1800s had greater social impact.

Saumitra Jha recently published an article about the economic and political consequences of the Indian subcontinent partition.

Faculty Affiliate Marshall Burke and fellow researchers have developed a new capability for estimating crop yields from space.