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Richard Akresh

Profile picture for Richard Akresh

Contact Information

411 1407 W Gregory Dr M/C 707
Urbana, IL 61801

Research Areas

Associate Professor

Biography

Richard Akresh is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on children's health and education. He has explored the impact of conflict on human capital and health for young children as well as the long-term and intergenerational consequences of exposure to war as a child. He has conducted randomized control trials of alternative ways to deliver cash transfers and early childhood development interventions to poor households in Africa to improve children's health and education. He is also interested in questions about the intergenerational transmission of shocks, household structure, and intra-household bargaining. He is a Research Associate of the NBER, a BREAD Research Affiliate, a Research Fellow at IZA, and a Senior Affiliate at HiCN.

Research Interests

Development

Education

Economics, Ph.D., Yale University

Courses Taught

Economics 450: Development Economics

Additional Campus Affiliations

Associate Professor, Economics
Associate Professor, Global Studies Programs and Courses
Associate Professor, Center for African Studies

Recent Publications

Akresh, R., Bhalotra, S., Leone, M., & Osili, U. (2023). First- and Second-Generation Impacts of the Biafran War & Journal of Human Resources, 58(2), 489-531. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.58.4.0118-9272R1

Akresh, R., Halim, D., & Kleemans, M. (2023). Long-Term and Intergenerational Effects of Education: Evidence from School Construction in Indonesia. The Economic Journal, 133(650), 582-612. Article ueac058. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueac058

Akresh, R., Caruso, G. D., & Thirumurthy, H. (2022). Detailed geographic information, conflict exposure, and health impacts. World Development, 155, Article 105890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.105890

Akresh, R., Halim, D., & Kleemans, M. (2018). Long-term and Intergenerational Effects of Education: Evidence from School Construction in Indonesia. (NBER Working Paper Series; No. 25265). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w25265

Akresh, R., Bhalotra, S. R., Leone, M., & Osili, U. O. (2017). First and Second Generation Impacts of the Biafran War. (IZA Discussion Paper; No. 10938). https://ssrn.com/abstract=3029809

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