Erica Field | Scholars@Duke

Erica Field
Professor of Economics

Professor Field’s major fields of interests are development economics, labor economics, economic demography, and health. Specifically, her research focuses on the areas of marriage and family, property rights, global health, and finance and entrepreneurship. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and IZA/DFID Growth and Labour Markets in Low Income Countries, among others. She has published work in various journals, including the American Economics Journal and the Quarterly Journal of Economics. Her research regularly takes her out of the U.S., and she is currently working on projects that explore adolescent empowerment and education in Bangladesh, female labor market participation in Pakistan, the effects of microfinance on women and households in South Asia and India, and the impacts of access to family planning resources on fertility and health in Zambia.

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Professor of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015
Faculty Research Scholar of DuPRI's Population Research Center, Duke Population Research Center, Duke Population Research Institute 2010

Contact Information

319 Social Sciences, Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708-0097
Box 90097, Durham, NC 27708
field.erica@duke.edu (919) 660-1857
CV
http://sites.duke.edu/ericafield/

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Princeton University 2003
Duke Appointment History
- Associate Research Professor in the Duke Global Health Institute, Duke Global Health Institute, University Institutes and Centers 2011 - 2016
- Associate Professor in the Department of Economics, Economics, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2011 - 2015
Academic Positions Outside Duke
- John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Science (Economics), Harvard University. 2010 - 2011
- National Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. 2009 - 2010
- Visiting Faculty, Center for Health and Wellbeing, Princeton University. 2006 - 2007
- Visiting Member, Institute for Advanced Study. 2006 - 2007
- Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Harvard University. 2005 - 2009
- Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Robert Wood Johnson Scholars in Health Policy Research, Harvard University. 2003 - 2004
Recognition
In the News
- NOV 18, 2018 Counterview
  
  At 33%, India's gender gap in mobile phone usage is fourth highest in world
- NOV 9, 2018 National Herald India
  
  In India only 38% of women use mobile phones, while it is 71% for men: Study
- OCT 25, 2018 The Quint
  
  Chhattisgarh Gave 2.3 Million Rural Women Smartphones, Here’s Why
- SEP 11, 2018 The Indian Times
  
  ‘Uneducated, unmarried women have less access to mobiles’: study
- JUN 1, 2018 Dvara Research
  
  Reflections on ten years of KGFS
- MAY 2, 2018 Ideas for India
  
  What happens when investments targeting women’s microbusinesses go to men?
- APR 15, 2018 Mediapart
  
  En marche vers la destruction de l’université
- DEC 15, 2017 Business Standard
  
  Gender norms greatest barriers to use of tech in rural areas: Facebook official
- NOV 24, 2017 Ideas for India
  
  Give women credit
- OCT 25, 2017 Duke Today
  
  Through DevLab@Duke, Students Improve Human Condition Worldwide
- SEP 13, 2017 The Times of India
  
  Having a bank account can change a woman's life: Gates report
- JUL 19, 2017 Financial Express
  
  For real financial inclusion, JAM is important, but here is why focus should be on reforming PSBs
- MAY 1, 2017 Le Monde
  
  De l’importance exercée par l’habitat sur la pauvreté
- JAN 30, 2017 The Indian Express
  
  For a house to become a home
- JAN 14, 2017 Livemint
  
  Factory job boost for US, India’s adverse sex ratio and roots of post-truth world
- DEC 21, 2016 Livemint
  
  How moving money to the bank helps the poor
- NOV 19, 2016 Brown Political Review
  
  Property, Life and Liberty: Housing Policy in Nigeria
- OCT 19, 2016 Nhip Cau Dau Tu
  
  Tài chính vi mô: Tiềm năng không nhỏ
- OCT 6, 2016 The Economist
  
  Your inflexible friend
- JUN 30, 2016 Ideas for India
  
  Access to credit and female labour supply in India
- JUN 29, 2016 Forbes
  
  The $1 Trillion Link Between Mental Health And Economic Productivity
- NOV 20, 2015 Chequeado
  
  Propuestas basadas en evidencia: ¿funciona lo que proponen los candidatos?
- JUN 27, 2015 Livemint
  
  Microfinance and the mirage of inclusion
- JUN 19, 2015 Harvard Business Review
  
  A Friend's Support Can Make Women Better Entrepreneurs
- MAR 12, 2015 Center for Financial Inclusion
  
  How Does Innovation Happen, in the Financial Inclusion Movement and Elsewhere?
- DEC 5, 2014 Livemint
  
  The alchemy of Hindu-Muslim riots in India
- OCT 24, 2014 The Indian Express
  
  This transaction is still incomplete
- DEC 2, 2010 The Economist
  
  Big Trouble for microfinance
- NOV 26, 2010 The Indian Express
  
  Help microfinance, don't kill it
- JUL 13, 2010 Education Week
  
  Are Public-Service Subsidies Good for the Pubilc?
- FEB 1, 2010 Ideas for India
  
  Long Run-Effects of Repayment Flexibility in Microfinance: Evidence from India
- AUG 17, 2009 The New York Times Magazine
  
  The Women's Crusade
- AUG 24, 2006 The Economist
  
  The mystery of capital deepens
- JUN 11, 2006 The New York Times Magazine
  
  Forgive Us Our Student Debts
- APR 4, 2004 Miami Herald
  
  Land Titles Give Poor a Chance to Advance
- JAN 9, 2003 The New York Times
  
  A study looks at squatters and land titles in Peru.
Awards & Honors
Expertise
Subject Headings
Global Scholarship
- Expertise
  - Africa (Continent)
  - Asia (Continent)
- Research
Research
Selected Grants
- Effects of age at marriage and education on health of mothers and children awarded by National Institutes of Health 2018 - 2023
- Training Local Leaders to Prevent and Reduce Gender-Based Violence in their Communities awarded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018 - 2020
- A Labor Markets Research Agenda through a Job Search Platform 2018 - 2020
- Marriage Registrars 2018 - 2020
- Collaborative Research: Institutional Capacity As An Organizational Challenge: A Field Experiment in Pakistan awarded by National Science Foundation 2017 - 2020
- Transport and Urban Labor Market Integration: Evidence on Firms From a Randomized Control Trial 2017 - 2020
- Research Proposal: Woman's Mobility, Transport, and Empowerment: A Randomized Control Trial awarded by National Science Foundation 2016 - 2019
- The Impact of Microfinance on Health: Experimental Evidence from India awarded by Harvard University 2012 - 2018
- Age at marriage Women's education and Mother Child Outcomes awarded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011 - 2018
- Women's Access to Public Transport: A Randomized Control Trial 2014 - 2018
- Urban Labor Market Integration awarded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 - 2017
- Iodine Deficiency and Gender Attitudes in Tanzania awarded by National Institutes of Health 2015 - 2016
- Innovations for Poverty Action - Bangladesh 2015 - 2016
- Collaborative Research: Unintended Consequences of Behavior Change: An Examination of the Impacts on Child Health awarded by National Science Foundation 2012 - 2015
- Age at Marriage, Women's Education, and Mother and Child Outcomes in Bangladesh awarded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011 - 2014
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Walther, A., C. Tsao, R. Pande, C. Kirschbaum, E. Field, and L. Berkman. “Do dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, and testosterone influence women's depression and anxiety levels? Evidence from hair-based hormonal measures of 2105 rural Indian women.” Psychoneuroendocrinology 109 (November 2019): 104382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104382.
    Full Text
  - Barnhardt, S., E. Field, and R. Pande. “Moving to opportunity or isolation? Network effects of a randomized housing lottery in urban India.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 9, no. 1 (January 1, 2017): 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20150397.
    Full Text
  - Field, E., V. Molitor, A. Schoonbroodt, and M. Tertilt. “Gender Gaps in Completed Fertility.” Journal of Demographic Economics 82, no. 02 (June 2016): 167–206. https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2016.5.
    Full Text
  - Field, E., S. Jayachandran, R. Pande, and N. Rigol. “Friendship at work: Can peer effects catalyze female entrepreneurship?” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 8, no. 2 (May 1, 2016): 125–53. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140215.
    Full Text
  - Chong, A., I. Cohen, E. Field, E. Nakasone, and M. Torero. “Iron deficiency and schooling attainment in Peru.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 8, no. 4 (January 1, 2016): 222–55. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20140494.
    Full Text
  - Ashraf, N., E. Field, and J. Lee. “Household bargaining and excess fertility: An experimental study in zambia.” American Economic Review 104, no. 7 (January 1, 2014): 2210–37. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.104.7.2210.
    Full Text
  - Feigenberg, B., E. Field, R. Pande, N. Rigol, and S. Sarkar. “Do group dynamics influence social capital gains among microfinance clients? Evidence from a randomized experiment in urban India.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 33, no. 4 (January 1, 2014): 932–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21790.
    Full Text
  - Field, E., R. Pande, J. Papp, and N. Rigol. “Does the classic microfinance model discourage entrepreneurship among the poor? Experimental evidence from India.” American Economic Review 103, no. 6 (October 1, 2013): 2196–2226. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.6.2196.
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  - Field, Erica, Rohini Pande, John Papp, and Y Jeanette Park. “Repayment flexibility can reduce financial stress: a randomized control trial with microfinance clients in India.” Plos One 7, no. 9 (January 2012): e45679. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0045679.
    Full Text
  - Thornton, Rebecca L., Laurel E. Hatt, Erica M. Field, Mursaleena Islam, Freddy Solís Diaz, and Martha Azucena González. “Social security health insurance for the informal sector in Nicaragua: a randomized evaluation.” Health Economics 19 Suppl (September 2010): 181–206. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.1635.
    Full Text
  - Ambrus, A., E. Field, and M. Torero. “Muslim family law, prenuptial agreements, and the emergence of dowry in Bangladesh.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 125, no. 3 (August 1, 2010): 1349–97. https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2010.125.3.1349.
    Full Text
  - Field, A. J., and E. Field. “Globalization, Crop Choice, and Property Rights in Rural Peru, 1994-2004,” May 13, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584758.003.0010.
    Full Text
  - Field, E., S. Jayachandran, and R. Pande. “Do traditional institutions constrain female entrepreneurship? A field experiment on business training in India.” American Economic Review 100, no. 2 (May 1, 2010): 125–29. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.100.2.125.
    Full Text
  - Field, E., O. Robles, and M. Torero. “Iodine deficiency and schooling attainment in Tanzania.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1, no. 4 (October 1, 2009): 140–69. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.1.4.140.
    Full Text
  - Field, E. “Educational debt burden and career choice: Evidence from a financial aid experiment at NYU law school.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 1, no. 1 (January 1, 2009): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.1.1.1.
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  - Field, E., and A. Ambrus. “Early marriage, age of menarche, and female schooling attainment in Bangladesh.” Journal of Political Economy 116, no. 5 (October 1, 2008): 881–91. https://doi.org/10.1086/593333.
    Full Text
  - Field, E., M. Levinson, R. Pande, and S. Visaria. “Segregation, rent control, and riots: The economics of religious conflict in an Indian City.” American Economic Review 98, no. 2 (May 1, 2008): 505–10. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.98.2.505.
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  - Field, E., and R. Pande. “Repayment frequency and default in microfinance: Evidence from India.” Journal of the European Economic Association 6, no. 2–3 (April 1, 2008): 501–9. https://doi.org/10.1162/JEEA.2008.6.2-3.501.
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  - Field, E. “Entitled to work: Urban property rights and labor supply in Peru.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 122, no. 4 (November 1, 2007): 1561–1602. https://doi.org/10.1162/qjec.2007.122.4.1561.
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  - Field, E. “Property rights and investment in urban slums.” Journal of the European Economic Association 3, no. 2–3 (April 1, 2005): 279–90.
  - Field, E. M. “Property Rights, Community Public Goods and Household Time Allocation in Urban Squatter Communities: Evidence from Peru.” William and Mary Law Review 45, no. 3 (2004).
    Link to Item
- Conference Papers
  - Ashraf, Nava, Erica Field, Giuditta Rusconi, Alessandro Voena, and Roberta Ziparo. “Traditional Beliefs and Learning about Maternal Risk in Zambia.” In The American Economic Review, 107:511–15, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.p20171106.
    Full Text
Teaching & Mentoring
Recent Courses
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
- Center for Health and Wellbeing Weekly Seminar Series. Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University. October 25, 2015 2015
- Entitled to Growth: Land Titling and Economic Development in Urban Slums?. Symposium on Development and Human Dignity. Wheaton Center for Faith, Politics, and Economics. November 16, 2011 2011
Outreach & Engaged Scholarship

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Duke Appointment History

Academic Positions Outside Duke

In the News

Awards & Honors

Subject Headings

Global Scholarship

Expertise

Research

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Conference Papers

Recent Courses

Presentations & Appearances

Outreach & Engaged Scholarship