Michael Kremer

Michael Robert Kremer (born November 12, 1964) is an American development economist and University Professor in the Department of Economics and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Kremer earned his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University in 1992 and has held academic positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard before joining the University of Chicago in 2020, where he also directs the Development Innovation Lab. He is renowned for pioneering the application of randomized controlled trials in development economics to rigorously test the causal effects of interventions aimed at reducing global poverty, particularly in areas such as education, health, and agriculture. For this experimental approach, which has informed evidence-based policymaking worldwide, Kremer shared the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel with Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. His foundational work includes field experiments demonstrating the efficacy of deworming treatments in improving school attendance and long-term earnings in low-income settings, challenging prior assumptions and guiding large-scale implementations.

Michael Robert Kremer was born on November 12, 1964, in New York City, as a descendant of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Austria. His mother was a professor of literature.