Aims of Public Policy

The Aims of Public Policy address provides a collective moment for students entering Harris during which they can think about the broader aspects of their education before becoming fully immersed in the data-driven Harris approach to policy analysis. The address is a unique experience to Harris and is an annual tradition. Each year, a Harris faculty member is invited to speak about the impact of public policy, while encouraging you to reflect on the purpose of your education.

2024 Faculty Remarks: Oeindrila Dube, Ph.D.

Professor Dube studies poverty, violence and crime in countries around the world. One strand of her research analyzes how economic shocks shape conflict dynamics. Another strand examines how cognitive factors give rise to violence. She uses both quasi-experimental and experimental research designs, and draws on a wide variety of sources, including original surveys, hand collected records, and big data to study these questions.

Her work has appeared in leading journals including the Quarterly Journal of Economics, Science, the Journal of Political Economy, the Review of Economic Studies, and the American Political Science Review.

Dube holds a number of research affiliations and appointments. She is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a fellow at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), a fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) and an affiliate of the University of Chicago Crime Lab. She co-leads the Crime and Violence Initiative at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and the Socio-economic Inequalities Initiative at the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute.

Directly preceding her appointment at the Harris School, Dube was an assistant professor of politics and economics at New York University. Prior to that, she worked at the World Bank, Oxfam International, and the Brookings Institution. 

Dube received her PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University, her M Phil in Economics from Oxford University, and her BA in Public Policy from Stanford University. She was also the recipient of a Rhodes Scholarship in 2002. 

Previous Speakers

• Damon Jones, Ph.D., Associate Professor and associate director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility | 2023
• Konstantin Sonin, Ph.D., John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor at Harris | 2022
• Steven Neil Durlauf, Ph.D., Steans Professor in Educational Policy | 2021
• Scott Ashworth, Professor and Director of the Harris PhD Program | 2020
• Ryan Kellogg, Professor and Deputy Dean for Academic Programs | 2019
• Christopher R. Berry, William J. and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor | 2018
• William Howell, Sydney Stein Professor in American Politics | 2017
• James Robinson, The Reverend Dr. Richard L. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies | 2016
• Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, Sydney Stein Professor and Deputy Dean | 2015