Berk Ӧzler

Development Research Group, World Bank

I received my B.Sc. in Mathematics from Boğaziçi University in 1991, and my Ph.D in Economics from Cornell University in 2001. After working on poverty and inequality measurement, poverty mapping, and the 2006 World Development Report on Equity and Development earlier, I decided to combine my interest in cash transfer programs and HIV risks facing young women in Africa by designing a large cash transfer experiment in Malawi, the longer-term evaluation of which is still ongoing. I have since conducted a number of cluster-randomized field experiments. I am currently interested in ways to reduce unintended pregnancies, especially among adolescent females and young women. We are trialing approaches to increase the take-up of modern contraceptives among this population with an adaptive experiment in Cameroon. I am a co-founder of and a regular contributor to the Development Impact blog.

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Policy Research Talk: Should We Just Give People Cash?

PBS NewsHour Weekend: Group Gives Cash Aid to Rural Kenyans, then Studies its Effects.

Faculti.net interview on "Children on the Move: Progressive Redistribution of Humanitarian Cash Transfers among Refugees"

Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast - Tech increases access to contraceptives in Cameroon

Contact Information

Development Research Group

The World Bank

1818 H St. NW

Washington, DC 20433


Phone: +1 (202) 458 5861

email me