Economist Esther Duflo to Receive 2026 Moynihan Prize
Nobel laureate economist Esther Duflo has been named the American Academy of Political and Social Science’s 2026 Daniel Patrick Moynihan Prize winner. The Moynihan Prize is awarded annually to a leading policymaker, social scientist, or public intellectual whose career demonstrates the value of using research and evidence to inform public policy and improve the human condition. Duflo, the co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is best known for her work on the microeconomics of economic development and the use of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the causal effects of social interventions.
“Esther Duflo’s research has deepened our understanding of how poverty and inequality can be reduced and helped shape policies to improve economic outcomes around the world,” a released quoted AAPSS President Sheldon Danziger. “Her studies of the effects of policy interventions on economic, educational, and health outcomes have guided the development of policies and programs that improve the well-being of those in greatest need.”
Duflo is currently Lemann Foundation Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich, president of the board of the Paris School of Economics, chair of poverty and public policy at the Collège de France, and continues as a codirector of J-PAL. In addition to the 2019 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences she shared with Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer, her honors include the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (2015), the 2014 Albert O. Hirschman Prize from the Social Science Research Council (awarded to J-PAL), and the 2010 John Bates Clark Medal. AAPSS named her its Sir Arthur Lewis Fellow in 2016.
Duflo will accept the Moynihan Prize and deliver the 13th annual Moynihan Lecture on Social Science and Public Policy in Washington, D.C., in early 2027. Named in honor of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the prize carries forward his legacy of public service informed by intellectual engagement and scholarship. Past winners have included Alice Rivlin, Joseph Stiglitz, William Julius Wilson, Marian Wright Edelman and last year’s winner, historian Timothy Snyder.
