Oeindrila Dube
University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy
Email: odube@uchicago.edu
Welcome! I am the Philip K. Pearson Professor at the University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy.
I study forces that shape the political and economic development of society. I am broadly interested in understanding elements of the social fabric — including conflict, trust and religious adherence. In my research, I utilize both quasi-experimental and experimental research designs and draw on a wide variety of data sources, including original surveys, hand collected records, and big data.
One strand of my recent work aims to understand how cognitive tools can be used to shape the behavior of front-line workers. As one example, my co-authors and I conduct a large-scale RCT with the Chicago Police Department and demonstrate how helping officers navigate cognitive biases can reduce uses of force, shedding light on cognitive biases as drivers of adverse policing outcomes.
Another recent project seeks to understand how economic and political factors shape religious behavior. This project leverages terabytes of digital trace data to develop a new measure of Islamic religious adherence. We use this measure to demonstrate how economic downturns stemming from climate shocks, and district takeovers by the Taliban, serve to increase religious adherence in Afghanistan.
My research affiliations include the NBER, CEPR, BREAD, and J-PAL, where I serve on the Board and co-chair the Crime and Violence Sector.
I completed my PhD at Harvard University, my MPhil in Economics at Oxford University and my undergraduate degree at Stanford University. I was also the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship in 2002.
You can find a link to my google scholar profile here. Thanks for visiting!