Frank Schilbach

I am an Associate Professor in the MIT Economics Department. I graduated from Harvard with a PhD in Economics in 2015.

My research agenda explores the relationship between poverty and economic behavior by investigating factors associated with poverty, including mental distress, sleep deprivation, and substance abuse. In a second line of research, I study behavioral barriers to the diffusion of information in developing countries. My work advances a broader research agenda that seeks to integrate insights from psychology and related fields into development economics.

Together with Gautam Rao and Heather Schofield, I help run the Behavioral Development Lab in India. I am a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a faculty affiliate at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), a Research Affiliate at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and an Affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD).

Research Statement