Varun Gauri is Senior Economist in the Development Economics Vice Presidency of the World Bank. He co-leads the Mind, Behavior, and Development Unit (eMBeD), which integrates behavioral science into the design of anti-poverty policies worldwide.
He was Co-Director of the World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior. He serves on the editorial boards of the journals Behavioral Public Policy and Health and Human Rights, and is a member of the World Economic Forum Council on Behavior, the Advisory Board of Academics Stand Against Poverty, and the Board of the Behavioral Economics Action Research Centre at the University of Toronto.
His research has appeared in journals spanning the fields of economics, philosophy, political science, and law, and has been covered in The New York Times, The Economist, The Washington Post, Forbes, The Hindu, Frontline, among many media outlets. He has published three books: Courting Social Justice, School Choice in Chile, and Bringing Law to Life.
His current research is investigating the influence of social norms on women’s economic decision making, compliance with judicial human rights orders, and the influence of cooperation and identity on ideas of distributive justice.
He has BA from the University of Chicago and a PhD from Princeton University, and has held positions as Visiting Lecturer in Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Withrow Chair at Deep Springs College, and Visiting Professor in the Department of Economics at ILADES in Santiago, Chile.
