Ben Olken
Director, J-PAL
Scientific Director, J-PAL Southeast Asia
Co-Chair, Social Protection
Member, Executive Committee
J-PAL Affiliated Professor
Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Benjamin A. Olken is the Jane Berkowitz Carlton and Dennis William Carlton Professor of Microeconomics at MIT. His research focuses on the public sector in developing countries, including work on social safety nets, taxation, and governance. He has worked extensively in Indonesia for over 20 years, as well as in other contexts. He is the Editor of American Economic Journal: Applied Economics and the Co-Director of the NBER Development Economics Program. Ben earned his PhD in 2004 from Harvard University.
Ben serves as Scientific Director of J-PAL Southeast Asia and as Co-Chair of J-PAL's Social Protection sector. He is on the review board of the Social Protection Initiative and has previously served on the review boards of J-PAL's Governance Initiative and J-PAL Southeast Asia's Inclusive Financial Innovation Initiative. He has also lectured at J-PAL training events.