Benjamin Krause

Background

About Benjamin Krause

I am at the University of Chicago serving as Executive Director for the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics. Dedicated to advancing Frontier Research and achieving Global Impact, BFI serves as a hub for cutting-edge analysis and research across the entire University of Chicago economics community and puts ideas into action by translating and proactively disseminating insights to key decision-makers around the world. Immediately prior, I supported Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer in founding several of BFI's affiliates including the Development Innovation Lab (DIL) and the larger Development Economics Center and serving as Executive Director for both. DIL brings researchers in different fields together with governments, firms and non-profits to use the tools of economics to identify, test, refine and scale interventions with the potential to benefits millions of people in low and middle income countries. Prior to moving to the University of Chicago, I was at the University of California, Berkeley pursuing my PhD studying development economics and political economy with a particular interest in institutional formation in weak states and ungoverned spaces. In my research, I combine my networks and years of experience working as a humanitarian and development professional with my broad educational background, knowledge of theory and training as a microeconomist to conceive of, design, fund and implement novel randomized controlled trials (RCTs). I similarly identify, access and employ relevant administrative data sets both in service of RCTs and to exploit quasi-random policy variations for causal identification. I work primarily in collaboration with and in support of local government and civil society partners, and I strive to conduct experiments at-scale while minimizing deviations from normal operations. Prior to beginning my PhD studies, I worked in community-driven development and non-profit management in poverty-stricken pockets of the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean and East Africa. All told, my on-the-ground experience has stretched across more than 35 different developing countries. I received my MA studying International Development and International Economics at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and my BA in Philosophy and Spanish from Xavier University. I am quite honored and humbled to say that both institutions honored me as the outstanding overall graduate of my respective classes, and in 2012 Xavier University further honored me with its annual Magis Alumni Award.