In 2003, he founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), along with Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan and remains one of the directors of the lab.
Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee is among the three economists awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Economics for their "experimental approach to alleviating global poverty." The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said it has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences to Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer.
Born in 1961 in Mumbai, Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee was educated at the University of Calcutta, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Harvard University, where he received his PhD in 1988. He is currently the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 2003, he founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), along with Esther Duflo and Sendhil Mullainathan and remains one of the directors of the lab.
His areas of research are development economics and economic theory. Banerjee is a member of J-PAL's Executive Committee and previously served as co-chair of J-PAL’s Education Sector.
In 2009, he received the Infosys Prize 2009 in Social Sciences and Economics.
According to his profile at the J-PAL website, he was named one of Foreign Policy magazine's top 100 global thinkers in 2011.
He is the author of a large number of articles and three books, including Poor Economics which won the Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year. He is the editor of a fourth book, and he finished his first documentary film, "The Name of the Disease," in 2006.
Most recently, Banerjee served on the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
1. 'Their research is helping us fight poverty'
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In a press release, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said it has decided to award the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019 to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
Here is the academy's full statement on their contribution
The research conducted by this year’s Laureates has considerably improved our ability to fight global poverty. In just two decades, their new experiment-based approach has transformed development economics, which is now a flourishing field of research.
Despite recent dramatic improvements, one of humanity’s most urgent issues is the reduction of global poverty, in all its forms. More than 700 million people still subsist on extremely low incomes. Every year, around five million children under the age of five still die of diseases that could often have been prevented or cured with inexpensive treatments. Half of the world’s children still leave school without basic literacy and numeracy skills.
This year’s Laureates have introduced a new approach to obtaining reliable answers about the best ways to fight global poverty. In brief, it involves dividing this issue into smaller, more manageable, questions – for example, the most effective interventions for improving educational outcomes or child health. They have shown that these smaller, more precise, questions are often best answered via carefully designed experiments among the people who are most affected.
In the mid-1990s, Michael Kremer and his colleagues demonstrated how powerful this approach can be, using field experiments to test a range of interventions that could improve school results in western Kenya.
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, often with Michael Kremer, soon performed similar studies of other issues and in other countries. Their experimental research methods now entirely dominate development economics.
The Laureates’ research findings – and those of the researchers following in their footsteps – have dramatically improved our ability to fight poverty in practice. As a direct result of one of their studies, more than five million Indian children have benefitted from effective programmes of remedial tutoring in schools. Another example is the heavy subsidies for preventive healthcare that have been introduced in many countries.
These are just two examples of how this new research has already helped to alleviate global poverty. It also has great potential to further improve the lives of the worst-off people around the world.
2. Mother reacts
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"I am very happy. It's a big glory for the entire family," she said at her residence in Kolkata.
Speaking to NDTV, an overjoyed Nirmala Banerjee said "he is very much an Indian in every sense" although he has taken US citizenship.
3. President Kovind congratulates winners
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"Congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer on winning “the Nobel prize” in economic Science “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty”. Their research has helped economists better understand how to fight poverty in India & the world," President Ram Nath Kovind said.
4. PM Modi congratulates Abhijit Banerjee
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"Congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee on being conferred the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. He has made notable contributions in the field of poverty alleviation," Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted.
"I also congratulate Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer for winning the prestigious Nobel," he added.
5. Extremely happy: VP Naidu
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"Extremely happy to note that eminent #economist Shri Abhijit Banerjee is among the 3 Nobel laureates awarded the prize for #economics this year," Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said in a tweet.
"I am sure that his experimental approach to alleviating global #poverty will help the world community to understand & address the formidable challenge of #Poverty," he added.
6. Making India proud: Sonia Gandhi
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi congratulated Banerjee and said his recognition has delighted every Indian.
Congress President Smt Sonia Gandhi has congratulated Indian origin Economist and Academic Prof. #AbhijitBanerjee ,Prof. Esther Duflo and Prof. Michael Kramer upon receiving the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
— Congress (@INCIndia) October 14, 2019
His recognition as a noble laureate has delighted every Indian. pic.twitter.com/34uGSqjfNR
7. 'Immense pleasure and pride'
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Former prime minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh congratulated Professor Banerjee and his wife Esther Duflo on jointly winning the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and termed their work as 'path-breaking'.
"It gives me immense pleasure and pride to know that you are now the second Indian to receive a Nobel Prize in Economics, after my dear friend Professor Amartya Sen. I am delighted to know that your wife Esther Duflo is also a winner jointly of this Nobel Prize for Economics," Singh said in a letter to Banerjee.
He also outlined that Banerjee's scholarly work on poverty alleviation and development of new techniques such as 'Randomized Control Trials' were truly "path-breaking".
"I am particularly pleased, as a student of economics, that the Committee chose to honour pioneering innovations in development economics that are very applicable and useful to policymaking in developing countries such as India," the former prime minister said.
8. Abhijit helped conceptualise NYAY: Rahul Gandhi
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In a tweet, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, "Congratulations to #AbhijitBanerjee on winning the Nobel Prize in Economics. Abhijit helped conceptualise NYAY that had the power to destroy poverty and boost the Indian economy. Instead we now have Modinomics, that’s destroying the economy and boosting poverty."
9. Another Bengali has done the nation proud: Mamata Banerjee
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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also congratulated the Nobel Laureate.
Hearty congratulations to Abhijit Banerjee, alumnus of South Point School & Presidency College Kolkata, for winning the Nobel Prize in Economics. Another Bengali has done the nation proud. We are overjoyed.
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) October 14, 2019
জয় হিন্দ । জয় বাংলা ।
10. Big day for every Indian: Kejriwal
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Congratulating Banerjee, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was a big day for every India.
"Heartiest congratulations to eminent economist Abhijit Banerjee for being among the winners of this year’s Nobel prize for Economics. Work on poverty alleviation gets highest endorsement," he said.
"Abhijit Banerjee's pathbreaking work has also benefitted lakhs of children studying in Delhi govt schools. One of Delhi govt's most imp education reform 'Chunauti' has transformed govt school classroom teaching. It is based on the model developed by him," he added.
11. Congratulations pour in on Twitter
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Soon after the announcement, Twitter erupted in congratulating Banerjee for his achievement.
The POWER couple... What a moment for #EstherDuflo and #AbhijitBanerjee . Many Congratulations. INDIA is so proud of you. #NobelPrize2019 pic.twitter.com/PRry0XkxCn
— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) October 14, 2019
Congratulations to JNU Alumni Mr. Abhijit Banerjee for winning the Nobel Prize in Economics, and Ms. Pranjal Patil for being posted as sub-collector of Thiruvananthapuram. Hope their insights contribute positively to the shaping of public policy. #NobelPrize2019 #PranjalPatil
— Shehla Rashid شہلا رشید (@Shehla_Rashid) October 14, 2019
Congratulations to the couple #AbhijitBanerjee & #EstherDuflo ! What a proud moment!
— Sanghamitra (@AudaciousQuest) October 14, 2019
The 2019 #NobelPrize has been awarded to both “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
P.S.: He is an alumni of JNU and had helped conceptualise NYAY for Congress. pic.twitter.com/7FlnueUm06
Delighted to hear that Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Dufflo have won the Nobel Prize for Economics. Richly deserved. Abhijit is a proud graduate of that much-maligned university, JNU, and his work has inspired many younger Indian scholars.
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) October 14, 2019
I always felt proud that my PhD adviser was a Nobel laureate. Now my son has reason to feel the same since he did his PhD with Abhijit Banerjee.
— Kaushik Basu (@kaushikcbasu) October 14, 2019
Heartiest congrats to my friends Abhijit Banerjee & Esther Duflo, as well as Michael Kremer on winning the Economics #Nobel
— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) October 14, 2019
Your contributions to understanding poverty thru Randomised Controlled Trials RCTs have revolutionised the application of economics to real world problems! pic.twitter.com/TbCFeZJXvA
