Interview with Pascaline Dupas, development economist and Princeton University professor

In this interview, student co-supervisor Georgia Schaefer-Brown ’25, talks with Pascaline Dupas, development economist and professor at Princeton University, who discusses her specific areas of research: health, education, and access to financial tools, and describes how exploring the interconnectedness of these issues originally drew her to this field. The interview also covers how different approaches to research projects are heavily influenced by qualitative observations or discussions– Dupas states that it is important that the data and project direction match the lived experiences of people. She discusses her privilege in research work, and how she considers foreign development in Africa to be reparations, not charity. The second half of the interview does a deep dive into one of Dupas’s research papers, a 2015 project examining labeled cash transfers in Morocco, and the impact of its unique findings on the development community. Lastly, Dupas gives advice to undergraduate students interested in pursuing work in development economics. Read more