The 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Michael Kremer for pioneering experimental methods to combat global poverty. By emphasizing rigorous impact evaluation, he transformed development economics from theoretical speculation into an empirical science that tests interventions with the same clinical precision used in medical research to measure social outcomes.
Early Education and Fieldwork
Born in New York City in 1964, Kremer displayed early academic aptitude by taking university-level courses while still in high school. He earned an AB in Social Studies from Harvard University in 1985 before spending a year teaching at Eshisiru Secondary School in Kenya. This experience shifted his professional focus toward development, leading him to co-found WorldTeach. He subsequently returned to Harvard, completing a PhD in Economics in 1992 under the supervision of Robert Barro, Eric Maskin, and Greg Mankiw.
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Kremer held academic positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University before joining the University of Chicago in 2021. His research output, consistently ranking him among the most cited economists globally, centers on using randomized controlled trials to assess anti-poverty policies. Collaborating with Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, he demonstrated that targeted interventions—such as health and education initiatives—could be rigorously measured to determine their specific societal impacts.
Translating Research into Scalable Policy
The practical application of his research is exemplified by the Deworm the World Initiative, which emerged from his study on school-based deworming programs in Kenya. The initiative has provided over 1.8 billion treatments since 2014. Additionally, as a co-founder of Development Innovation Ventures at USAID, Kremer promoted a venture-capital model for global development, prioritizing programs that prove effective in pilot stages for widespread scaling. He also established Precision Development to provide digital agricultural advice to smallholder farmers.
Incentivizing Innovation
Following a personal experience with malaria in Kenya, Kremer directed his expertise toward vaccine development and financial architecture. Together with his wife, Rachel Glennerster, he advocated for advance market commitments. This mechanism enables governments to create legally binding agreements that guarantee a market for future vaccines, thereby incentivizing private pharmaceutical companies to invest in research for diseases primarily affecting low-income populations.
Fast facts
- Born: 1964, New York City
- Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences: 2019
- Education: Harvard University (AB 1985, PhD 1992)
- Member: National Academy of Sciences
- Fellow: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- Fellow: Econometric Society (2008)
- Citizenship: United States
- Religion: Judaism
Questions readers ask
What is the primary contribution of Michael Kremer's research?
He pioneered the use of randomized controlled trials to measure the effectiveness of specific interventions in health and education to alleviate global poverty.
What is an advance market commitment?
It is a financial agreement where governments guarantee a market for a future vaccine to encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for underserved populations.
Achievements
- Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel — 2019
- Affiliated with Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Chicago
- Educated at Harvard University and Harvard University
- Worked as economist and university teacher
