Projects
To learn about Malengo, the organization that supports educational migration, click here: malengo.org
I’m proud to be working on the Compton Wellbeing Survey: comptonwellbeingsurvey.org
Publications
Economics and General Science: Published Papers
Haushofer, Johannes, Sara Lowes, Abednego Musau, David M. Ndetei, Nathan Nunn, and Nancy Qian. “Stress, Ethnicity, and Prosocial Behavior.” Journal of Political Economy Microeconomics 1, no. 2 (2023): 225–269.
Haushofer, Johannes, and Daniel Salicath. “The Psychology of Poverty: Where Do We Stand?” Social Philosophy and Policy 40, no. 1 (2023): 150–184.
Egger, Dennis, Johannes Haushofer, Edward Miguel, Paul Niehaus, and Michael Walker. “General Equilibrium Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence from Kenya.” Econometrica 90, no. 6 (2022): 2603–2643.
Hensel, Lukas, Marc Witte, A. Stefano Caria, Thiemo Fetzer, Stefano Fiorin, Friedrich M. Götz, Margarita Gomez, Johannes Haushofer, Andriy Ivchenko, Gordon Kraft-Todd, Elena Reutskaja, Christopher Roth, Erez Yoeli, and Jon M. Jachimowicz. “Global Behaviors, Perceptions, and the Emergence of Social Norms at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 193 (2022): 473–496.
Christensen, Darin, Oeindrila Dube, Johannes Haushofer, Bilal Siddiqi, and Maarten Voors. “Healthcare Delivery During Crises: Experimental Evidence from Sierra Leone and the 2014 Ebola Outbreak.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 136, no. 2 (2021): 1145–1198.
Egger, Dennis, Edward Miguel, Shana S. Warren, Doug Parkerson, A. Mushfiq Mobarak, Günther Fink, Christoper Udry, Michael Walker, Johannes Haushofer, Magdalena Larreboure, Susan Athey, Paula Lopez-Pena, Salim Benhachmi, Macartan Humphreys, Layna Lowe, Niccoló F. Meriggi, Andrew Wabwire, C. Austin Davis, Utz Johann Pape, Tilman Graff, Maarten Voors, Carolyn Nekesa, and Corey Vernot. “Falling Living Standards during the COVID-19 Crisis: Quantitative Evidence from Nine Developing Countries.” Science Advances 7, no. 6 (2021): eabe0997.
Haushofer, Johannes, Prachi Jain, Abednego Musau, and David M. Ndetei. “Stress May Increase Choice of Sooner Outcomes, But Not Temporal Discounting.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 183 (2021): 377–396.
Balakrishnan, Uttara, Johannes Haushofer, and Pamela Jakiela. “How Soon Is Now? Evidence of Present Bias from Convex Time Budget Experiments.” Experimental Economics 23 (2020): 294–321.
Baranov, Victoria, Johannes Haushofer, and Chaning Jang. “Can Positive Psychology Improve Psychological Wellbeing and Economic Decision-Making? Experimental Evidence from Kenya.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 68, no. 4 (2020): 1345–1376.
Christensen, Darin, Oeindrila Dube, Johannes Haushofer, Bilal Siddiqi, and Maarten Voors. “Community- Based Crisis Response: Evidence from Sierra Leone’s Ebola Outbreak.” American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 110 (2020): 260–264.
Haushofer, Johannes, M. Chemin, Chaning Jang, and Justin Abraham. “Economic and Psychological Effects of Health Insurance and Cash Transfers: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Kenya.” Journal of Development Economics 144 (2020): 102416.
Haushofer, Johannes, and C. Jessica E. Metcalf. “Which Interventions Work Best in a Pandemic?” Science 368, no. 6495 (2020): 1063–1065.
Haushofer, Johannes, Charlotte Ringdal, Jeremy Shapiro, and Xiao-Yu Wang. “Spousal (Dis)Agreement in Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence in Kenya.” American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 110 (2020): 620–624.
Haushofer, Johannes, Michala Iben Riis-Vestergaard, and Jeremy Shapiro. “Is There a Social Cost of Randomization?” Social Choice and Welfare 52, no. 4 (2019): 709–739.
de Quidt, Jonathan, Johannes Haushofer, and Christopher Roth. “Measuring and Bounding Experimenter Demand.” American Economic Review 108, no. 11 (2018): 3266–3302.
Haushofer, Johannes, and Jeremy Shapiro. “The Short-Term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 131, no. 4 (2016): 1973–2042.
Haushofer, Johannes, and Ernst Fehr. “On the Psychology of Poverty.” Science 344, no. 6186 (2014): 862–867.
Haushofer, Johannes, Anat Biletzki, and Nancy Kanwisher. “Both Sides Retaliate in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107, no. 42 (2010): 17927–17932.
Economics and General Science: Revise-and-Resubmit
Orkin, Kate, Robert Garlick, Mahreen Mahmud, Richard Sedlmayr, Johannes Haushofer, and Stefan Dercon. “Aspiring to a Better Future: Can a Simple Psychological Intervention Reduce Poverty?” Revise-and-resubmit, Review of Economic Studies.
Haushofer, Johannes, Paul Niehaus, Carlos Paramo, Edward Miguel, and Michael W. Walker. “Targeting Impact versus Deprivation.” NBER Working Paper (2022). Conditionally accepted, American Economic Review.
Esopo, Kristina, Johannes Haushofer, Linda Kleppin, and Ingvild Skarpeid. “Acute Stress Decreases Competitiveness Among Men.” Working Paper (2020). Revise-and-resubmit, Experimental Economics.
Economics and General Science: Working Papers
Almås, Ingvild, Johannes Haushofer, and Anders Kjelsrud. “The Income Elasticity for Nutrition: Evidence from Unconditional Cash Transfers in Kenya.” NBER Working Paper 25711 (2023).
Haushofer, Johannes, Robert Mudida, and Jeremy Shapiro. “The Comparative Impact of Cash Transfers and Psychotherapy on Psychological and EconomicWell-being.” Working Paper (2023).
Bhat, Bhargav, Jonathan de Quidt, Johannes Haushofer, Vikram H. Patel, Gautam Rao, Frank Schilbach, and Pierre-Luc P. Vautrey. “The Long-Run Effects of Psychotherapy on Depression, Beliefs, and Economic Outcomes.” NBER Working Paper (2022).
Lund, Crick, Kate Orkin, Marc Witte, Thandi Davies, Walker, John, Johannes Haushofer, Sarah Murray, Judy Bass, Laura Murray, and Vikram Patel. “Treating Mental Health Conditions Improves Labor Market and Other Economic Outcomes in Low and Middle-Income Countries.” Working Paper (2022).
Haushofer, Johannes, Michael Kremer, Ricardo Maertens, and Brandon Joel Tan. “Water Treatment and Child Mortality: Evidence from Kenya.” NBER Working Paper (2021).
Romero, Jimena, Kristina Esopo, Joel McGuire, and Johannes Haushofer. “The Effect of Economic Transfers on Psychological Well-Being and Mental Health.” Working Paper (2021).
Bedoya, Guadalupe, Aidan Coville, Johannes Haushofer, and Jeremy Shapiro. “No Household Left Behind: Afghanistan Targeting the Ultra Poor Impact Evaluation.” NBER Working Paper 25981 (2019).
Graff, Tilman, Johannes Haushofer, James Reisinger, and Jeremy Shapiro. “Psychological Well-Being Is Much More Strongly Related to Income Than to Inequality.” Working Paper (2019).
(Previously circulated as “Is Your Gain My Pain? Effects of Relative Income and Inequality on Psychological Well-being”)
Available upon request
Haushofer, Johannes. “Correlations Severely Underestimate the Causal Impact of Income on Well-Being.” Working Paper (2019).
Available upon request
Haushofer, Johannes. “Is there a Psychological Poverty Trap?” Working Paper (2019).
Haushofer, Johannes, and Ernst Fehr. “Negative Income Shocks Increase Discount Rates.” Working Paper (2019).
Haushofer, Johannes, Charlotte Ringdal, Jeremy Shapiro, and Xiao Yu Wang. “Income Changes and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Unconditional Cash Transfers in Kenya.” NBER Working Paper 25627 (2019).
Haushofer, Johannes, Chaning Jang, John Lynham, and Justin Abraham. “Stress and Temporal Discounting: Do Domains Matter?” Working Paper (2018).
Haushofer, Johannes, and Jeremy Shapiro. “The Long-Term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: Experimental Evidence from Kenya.” Working Paper (2018).
de Quidt, Jonathan, and Johannes Haushofer. “Depression for Economists.” NBER Working Paper 22973 (2016).
Haushofer, Johannes. “The Cost of Keeping Track.” Working Paper (2015).
Haushofer, Johannes, Marie Collins, Giovanna de Giusti, Joseph Njoroge, Amos Odero, Cynthia Onyango, James Vancel, Chaning Jang, Maneesh Kuruvilla, and Conor Hughes. “A Methodology for Laboratory Experiments in Developing Countries: Examples from the Busara Center.” Working Paper (2014).
Chemin, Matthieu, Joost De Laat, and Johannes Haushofer. “Negative Rainfall Shocks Increase Levels of the Stress Hormone Cortisol Among Poor Farmers in Kenya.” Working paper (2013).
Haushofer, Johannes. “The Psychology of Poverty: Evidence from 43 Countries.” Working Paper (2013).
Haushofer, Johannes, and Noémie Zurlinden. “Market Convergence and Equilibrium in a Kenyan Informal Settlement.” Working Paper (2013).
Psychology and Neuroscience: Published Papers
Esopo, K., Derby, L., & Haushofer, J. (2020). Interventions to improve adherence to antenatal andpostnatal care regimens among pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 20, 316.
Haushofer, J. (2019). Psychological origins of the industrial revolution: Why we need causal methods and historians. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 42, e200.
Bryan, C. J., Mazar, N., Jamison, J., Braithwaite, J., Dechausay, N., Fishbane, A., Fox, E., Gauri, V., Glennerster, R., Haushofer, J., Karlan, D., & Vakis, R. (2017). Overcoming Behavioral Obstacles to Escaping Poverty. Behavioral Science and Policy, 3(1), 81–92.
Haushofer, J. & Reisinger, J. (2019). Atheist primes reduce religiosity and subjective wellbeing. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 9(2), 126–142.
Tol, W. A., Murray, S., Lund, C., Bolton, P. A., Murray, L., Davies, T., Haushofer, J., Orkin, K., Witte, M., Salama, L., Patel, V., Thornicroft, G., & Bass, J. (2019). Can mental healthtreatments help prevent or reduce intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income countries? A systematic review. BMC Women’s Health, 19(1), 728.
Esopo, K., Mellow, D., Thomas, C., Uckat, H., Abraham, J., Jain, P., Jang, C., Otis, N., Riis-Vestergaard, M., Starcev, A., Orkin, K., & Haushofer, J. (2018). Measuring self-efficacy, executive function, and temporal discounting in Kenya. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 101, 30–45.
Lund, C., Brooke-Sumner, C., Baingana, F., Baron, E. C., Breuer, E., Chandra, P., Haushofer, J., Herrman, H., Jordans, M., Kieling, C., Medina-Mora, M. E., Morgan, E., Omigbodun, O., Tol, W., Patel, V., Saxena, S. (2018). Social Determinants of Mental Health Disorders and the Sustainable Development Goals: A systematic review of reviews. The Lancet Psychiatry,5(4), 357–369.
Riis-Vestergaard, M. I., Ast, V. van, Cornelisse, S., Joëls, M., & Haushofer, J. (2018). The effect of hydrocortisone administration on intertemporal choice. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 88, 173–182.
Riis-Vestergaard, M. I., & Haushofer, J. (2017). Stuff goes wrong, so act now. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, e340.
Steinbeis, N., Haushofer, J., Fehr, E., & Singer, T. (2016). Development of Behavioral Control and Associated vmPFC–DLPFC Connectivity Explains Children’s Increased Resistance to Temptation in Intertemporal Choice. Cerebral Cortex, 26(1), 32–42.
Haushofer, J., Cornelisse, S., Seinstra, M., Fehr, E., Joëls, M., & Kalenscher, T. (2013). No Effects of Psychosocial Stress on Intertemporal Choice. PLoS ONE, 8(11), e78597.
Eisenegger, C., Haushofer, J., & Fehr, E. (2011). The role of testosterone in social interaction. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(6), 263–271.
Haushofer, J., Baker, C. I., Livingstone, M. S., & Kanwisher, N. (2008). Privileged Coding of Convex Shapes in Human Object-Selective Cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology, 100(2), 753–762.
Haushofer, J., & Fehr, E. (2008). You shouldn’t have: your brain on others’ crimes. Neuron, 60(5), 738–740.
Haushofer, J., Livingstone, M. S., & Kanwisher, N. (2008). Multivariate Patterns in Object-Selective Cortex Dissociate Perceptual and Physical Shape Similarity. PLOS Biology, 6(7), e187.
Op de Beeck, H. P., Haushofer, J., & Kanwisher, N. G. (2008). Interpreting fMRI data: maps, modules and dimensions. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9(2), 123–135.
Saxe, R., & Haushofer, J. (2008). For love or money: a common neural currency for social and monetary reward. Neuron, 58(2), 164–165.
Haushofer, J., & Kanwisher, N. (2007). In the eye of the beholder: visual experience and categories in the human brain. Neuron, 53(6), 773–775.
Schiller, P. H., & Haushofer, J. (2005). What is the coordinate frame utilized for the generation of express saccades in monkeys? Experimental Brain Research, 167(2), 178–186.
Schiller, P. H., Haushofer, J., & Kendall, G. (2004a). An examination of the variables that affect express saccade generation. Visual Neuroscience, 21(2), 119–127.
Schiller, P. H., Haushofer, J., & Kendall, G. (2004b). How do target predictability and precueing affect the production of express saccades in monkeys? The European Journal of Neuroscience, 19(7), 1963–1968.
Psychology and Neuroscience: Working Papers
Haushofer, J., Cornelisse, S., Joels, M., Kalenscher, T., & Fehr, E. (2011). Low income is associated with high baseline levels and low stress reactivity of cortisol, but not alpha amylase. Working Paper.
Chapters
de Quidt, J. & Haushofer, J. (2019). Depression through the Lens of Economics: A Research Agenda. In The Economics of Poverty Traps (pp. 127–152). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Lawson, G., Haushofer, J., & Crockett, M. (2015). Neurobiological Poverty Traps. In World Development Report (background chapter). Washington, D.C.: World Bank.Sheehy-Skeffington, J., & Haushofer, J. (2014). The Behavioural Economics of Poverty (with Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington). In Barriers to and Opportunities for Poverty Reduction: Prospects for Private Sector Led-Interventions. Istanbul: UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development.
Popular writing
Haushofer, J. & Shapiro, J. (2018a). GiveDirectly Three-Year Impacts, Explained by the Authors. Devleopment Impact Blog.
Haushofer, J., Pomeranz, D., Roser, M., & Schilbach, F. (2017). Daten gegen Armut [Data Against Poverty]. DIE ZEIT (Germany).
Haushofer, J. (2016). The psychological consequences of poverty. TEDMED Talk.
Thomas, C., & Haushofer, J. (2015). Cash: A simple remedy for domestic violence? International Growth Centre Blog.
Thomas, C., & Haushofer, J. (2015). Get Happy, Get Rich: The Relationship Between Depression and Poverty. Foreign Affairs.
Haushofer, J. (2014). The Price of Poverty. Foreign Affairs.
Haushofer, J., & Shapiro, J. (2014). Broadening the Aperture of Measurement. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Haushofer, J., & Fehr, E. (2009). The Legal Brain: How Does the Brain Make Judgments about Crimes? Scientific American Online.
Meanwhile at a recent dinner party…
Is the Chocolate-Eating, Coffee-Drinking, Dog-Walking Red Wine Drinker a Prototype? (With Kathwin Hill!, Matt Karp, Beth Lew-Williams, and Casey Lew-Williams). November 2014.