Overview
Alex Pfaff is a Professor of Public Policy, Economics and Environment at Duke University. He studies how economic development affects and is affected by natural resources and the environment. His focus is on the impacts of conservation policies (such as protected areas, ecoservices payments, and certifications) and development policies (such as roads and rights). Those impacts are functions of choices by individuals and communities that affect land use, water quantity and quality, human exposures (to arsenic, mercury, mining, and particulates), and both the provision and use of information.
Research accessible at AlexPfaff.com
Research accessible at AlexPfaff.com
Current Duke Appointments & Affiliations
Bernard Rhodes Distinguished Professor of Public Policy
·
2025 - Present
Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
·
2013 - Present
Sanford School of Public Policy
Professor in the Department of Economics
·
2013 - Present
Economics,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Professor in the Division of Environmental Social Systems
·
2025 - Present
Environmental Social Systems,
Nicholas School of the Environment
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center
·
2010 - Present
Duke Population Research Center,
Duke Population Research Institute
Associate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
·
2020 - Present
Duke Science & Society,
University Initiatives & Academic Support Units
Affiliate of the Duke Center for International Development
·
2023 - Present
Duke Center for International Development,
Sanford School of Public Policy
Recent Scholarly Works
Guiding private afforestation to raise public goods provision: Understanding farmers' multi-dimensional preferences for trees in India
Journal article Ecological Economics · September 1, 2026 AbstractMany tree-planting initiatives on private lands in the Global South do not appear to deliver intended public carbon, biodiversity, and livelihoods benefits, in part because many trees die before reaching maturity. Further, even if tree survival wer ... Full text CiteWhen does higher credit lower forest area? Amazon contexts change credit's impacts.
Journal article Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · March 2026 Economic activities have transformed over half of the Earth's surface and the large-scale conversion of rural forests to agropastoral production is ongoing. Raising access to credit may lead producers to expand at the expense of the forest or, instead, inv ... Full text CiteWhen do extraction rights help forests? Robustness and heterogeneity for linked interventions in the Peruvian Amazon
Journal article Conservation Science and Practice · November 1, 2025 Large areas of forest are allocated to commercial logging concessions, some of which are eco-certified. Theoretically, both holding concessions' rights to log and being eco-certified can increase or decrease forest loss. Impact estimates are sparse and uns ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
Ore-Selling: Can partnerships between small miners and processing plants simultaneously reduce mercury and raise local livelihoods?
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Dynacor Inc. · 2024 - 2027Transitioning to Hg-free Gold Processing: Identifying gaps from current to Hg-free supply chains and strategizing how to bridge them
Public ServiceCo Investigator · Awarded by Conservation International Guyana · 2022 - 2023Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED2)
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Columbia University · 2010 - 2015View All Grants
Education
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ·
1995
Ph.D.
Yale University ·
1988
B.A.