Chris Blattman

Chris Blattman is Associate Professor of Political Science & International Affairs at Columbia University. He studies why some people and societies are poor, violent and unequal, and what (if anything) aid or governments can do about it. He works principally in sub-Saharan Africa, especially Liberia, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

Dr. Blattman is a research fellow with the NBER, CEPR, BREAD, J-PAL, and CGD. He leads the Peace & Recovery program at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), as well as the Politics, Institutions and Conflict initiative at Columbia University’s Center for Development Economics and Policy (CDEP).

Dr. Blattman was previously on faculty at Yale University, and holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s in Public Administration and International Development (MPA/ID) from the Harvard Kennedy School. He blogs about research and international development on his personal website and at The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog.