Biography
David E. Sahn is an International Professor of Economics in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and the Department of Economics. Since 2015, he has been a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany. In 2017, he became a Senior Fellow at the Fondation for International Development Study and Research (FERDI) in Clermont-Ferrand, France. From 2011–2015, he was Chaire d’Excellence at Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International (CERDI), l’Université d’Auvergne, France. He received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master’s of Public Health from the University of Michigan. His main academic interest is in identifying the solutions to poverty, malnutrition, and disease in developing countries, as well as the determinants of human capital and the role of cognitive and non-cognitive skills in labor market outcomes. In addition to teaching and mentoring of graduate students, he devotes considerable efforts to training and capacity building of research institutions in Africa and working with government officials and international organizations to integrate research findings into policy. Before coming to Cornell in 1988, Professor Sahn was an Economist at the World Bank, and prior to that, a Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. He has been a visiting scholar at the International Monetary Fund, a visiting researcher at both the Département et Laboratoire d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, École Normale Superieure (DELTA) and Laboratoire d'Économie Appliquée de Paris, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Paris, and a visiting professor at Kenyatta University in Nairobi. He has also worked extensively with numerous international organizations, such as the Hewlett Foundation, the African Development Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Union, and several UN agencies, such as UNICEF, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), United Nations University, and the World Health Organization. He has also worked as a consultant for various governments in Asia, Africa, and transition economies in Eastern Europe. Dr. Sahn has a long list, numbering over 140, of peer-reviewed books, chapters, and journal articles dealing with issues of poverty, inequality, education, health, nutrition, and related economic and social policy. This body of literature includes both research focused on the impact of economic policy on household welfare, such as his widely cited books on the impact of economic reforms in Africa, Structural Adjustment Reconsidered (Cambridge University Press) Economic Reform and the Poor in Africa (Oxford University Press), as well as issues of health and nutrition, including the edited volumes, The Socioeconomic Dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Africa (Cornell University Press), The Fight Against Hunger and Malnutrition (Oxford University Press), and Health, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction (University of Nairobi Press).
Recent publications include “Starting Strong: Investigating the Importance of Early Academic Performance for Adult Human Capital,” Journal of African Economies, forthcoming (co-authors: Heidi Kaila and Naveen Sunder); “Cognitive Achievement Production in Madagascar: A Value-Added Model Approach.” Education Economics 29 (6): 670–99, June 2021 (co-author: Frédéric Aubery); “Childhood Determinants of Internal Youth Migration in Senegal.” Demographic Research 43: Article 45, 1335–66, November 2020, DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.45 (co-author: Catalina Herrera-Almanza); “The Role of Weather on Schooling and Work of Young Adults in Madagascar,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 101 (4): 1203–1227, July 2019 (co-authors: Francesca Marchetta and Luca Tiberti); Teen Fertility and Female Employment Outcomes: Evidence from Madagascar,” Journal of African Economies 28 (3): 277–303, June 2019 (co-authors: Catalina Herrera Almanza and Kira Villa); “Early Childbearing, School Attainment and Cognitive Skills: Evidence from Madagascar,” in Demography 55 (2): 643–68, 2018 (co-author: Catalina Herrera Almanza); “Household Shocks and Education Investment in Madagascar,” in Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 78 (6): 792–813, 2016, (co-authors Peter J. Glick and Thomas F. Walker); and “The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal,” in Economic Development and Cultural Change 64 (2): 369–403, 2016 (coauthor: Francesca Marchetta).
My work is motivated by the need to identify solutions to poverty, malnutrition, and disease in developing countries, and reducing inequalities that contribute to low levels of living standards. My focus is on understanding the determinants of human capital over the life course, with a particular attention to infant and maternal health, early childhood well-being, and transitions into young adulthood. As a result, my research looks at decisions and constraints that affect schooling and cognitive outcomes, health care access and utilization, and food choices and consumption. My research also focuses on family formation, fertility, and how they interact with schooling and labor market outcomes. In all these areas, I am particularly interested in gender dimensions and the disadvantages faced by women. Intrahousehold decision-making is thus a focus of my research; and likewise, my research explores the range of policy prescriptions and programs that can overcome discrimination against women, whether that be in terms of schooling, labor market opportunities, or bargaining power within the household. In pursuing these objectives, I rely on innovative models of household- and individual-level behaviors that explain choices regarding schooling, health care, childbearing, and labor market outcomes, and related behaviors. I also devote considerable effort to training and capacity building of research institutions in Africa and working with government officials and international organizations to promote evidence-based policymaking.
I work to make the classroom experience more intimate and more engaging for undergraduates, so that the students are more directly involved in the learning process. This involves moving away from a strict lecture format, and instead, trying to develop a learning community where student interactions, debate, and critical analysis of reading material is the focus of the classroom experience.
Nutritional Sciences 6850/Economics 7710: Microeconomics of Development: Applications to Health, Nutrition, and Education
Nutrition 4570/Economics 3910: Health, Poverty and Inequality: A Global Perspective
“Starting Strong: Investigating the Importance of Early Academic Performance for Adult Human Capital,” Journal of African Economies, forthcoming (co-authors: Heidi Kaila and Naveen Sunder).
“Cognitive Achievement Production in Madagascar: A Value-Added Model Approach. ”Education Economics 29 (6): 670–99, June 2021 (co-author: Frédéric Aubery).
“Childhood Determinants of Internal Youth Migration in Senegal. ”Demographic Research 43: Article 45, 1335–66, November 2020, DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2020.43.45 (co-author: Catalina Herrera-Almanza).
“The Role of Weather on Schooling and Work of Young Adults in Madagascar.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 101 (4): 1203–1227, July 2019 (co-authors: Francesca Marchetta and Luca Tiberti).
“Teen Fertility and Female Employment Outcomes: Evidence from Madagascar.” Journal of African Economies 28 (3): 277-303, June 2019 (co-authors: Catalina Herrera Almanza and Kira Villa).
“Early Childbearing, School Attainment and Cognitive Skills: Evidence from Madagascar.” Demography 55 (2): 643–68, 2018 (co-author: Catalina Herrera Almanza).
“The Incidence of Child Health Improvements,” Review of Development Economics 21 (2): 304–320, 2017 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Household Shocks and Education Investment in Madagascar,” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 78 (6): 792–813, December 2016 (co-authors: Peter J. Glick and Thomas Walker).
“Pro-Poor Policies in Sudan and South Sudan: Distributional Impact of Public Spending and Taxation,” African Development Review 28 (S2): 191–218, October 2016 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“The Role of Education and Family Background in Marriage, Childbearing, and Labor Market Participation in Senegal,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 64 (2): 369–403, January, 2016, (co-author: Francesca Marchetta).
Health, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction. Editor. University of Nairobi Press, 2016.
“Schooling, Marriage and Age at First Birth in Madagascar,” Population Studies 69 (2): 219–236, 2015 (co-authors: Peter J. Glick and Christopher Handy).
The Fight Against Hunger and Malnutrition: The Role of Food, Agriculture, and Targeted Policies. Editor. Oxford University Press, 2015.
“Public and Private Returns to Investing in Nutrition.” In Oxford Handbook of Economics and Human Biology, edited by John Komlos and Inas Rashad Kelly. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015 (co-author: Harold Alderman).
“Is Food the Answer to Malnutrition?” In Oxford Handbook of Food, Agriculture and Society, edited by Ronald J. Herring. Oxford University Press, New York, 2015.
“Nutrition, Health, and Economic Performance.” In Encyclopedia of Health Economics, edited by Anthony J. Culyer, Oxford: Elsevier, March 2014.
“Health, Poverty and Economic Growth: An Introduction.” African Development Review 24 (4): 267–269, 2012.
“Health Inequality across Populations of Individuals,” African Development Review 24 (4): 316–326, 2012.
“Health Challenges in Africa.” In The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa,edited by Ernest Aryeetey, Shanta Devarajan, Ravi Kanbur, and Louis Kasekende. Oxford University Press, 2012.
“Impact of Health on Economic Outcomes.” In The Oxford Companion to the Economics of Africa, edited by Ernest Aryeetey, Shanta Devarajan, Ravi Kanbur, and Louis Kasekende. Oxford University Press, 2012.
“Household Water Supply Choice and Time Allocated to Water Collection: Evidence from Madagascar,” Journal of Development Studies 47 (12): 1826–1850, December, 2011 (co-authors: Christopher Boone and Peter Glick).
“Comparing Population Distributions from Bin-aggregated Sample Data: An Application to Historical Height Data from France,” Economics & Human Biology 9 (4): 419–437, December 2011 (co-authors: Jean-Yves Duclos and Josée Leblanc).
“Family Background, School Characteristics and Children’s Cognitive Achievement in Madagascar,” Education Economics 19 (4): 363–396, September, 2011(co-authors: Peter Glick and Jean Claude Randrianarisoa).
“Partial Multidimensional Inequality Orderings,” Journal of Public Economics 95:(3–4): 225–238, April, 2011 (co-authors: Jean-Yves Duclos and Stephen D. Younger).
The Socioeconomic Dimensions of HIV/AIDS in Africa: Challenges, Opportunities, and Misconceptions. Editor. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010.
“The Relationship between Poverty and Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In Reproductive Health, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Africa: Frameworks for Analysis, edited by Olu Ajakaiye and Germano Mwabu. University of Nairobi Press, 2010 (co-author: Chad Meyerhoefer).
“The Impact of Poor Health and Nutrition on Labor Productivity, Poverty and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In P. Pinstrup-Andersen (ed.)The African Food System and Its Interaction with Health and Nutrition (Chapter 11). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010.
“Explaining Stunting in Nineteenth Century France,” Economic History Review 63 (2): 315–334, May, 2010 (co-author: Gilles Postel-Vinay).
“Inequality and Poverty in Africa in an Era of Globalization: Looking Beyond Income to Health and Education” In The Poor under Globalization in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, edited by Machiko Nissanke and Erik Thorbecke. Prepared for UNU-Wider. Oxford University Press, July 2010 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Early Academic Performance, Grade Repetition, and School Attainment in Senegal: A Panel Data Analysis.” World Bank Economic Review 24 (1): 93-120, January, 2010 (co-author: Peter J. Glick).
“Fiscal Incidence in Africa: Microeconomic Evidence.” In Poverty in Africa: Analytical and Policy Perspectives, edited by Augustin Fosu, Germano Mwabu and Erik Thorbecke. University of Nairobi Press, 2009 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Living Standards in Africa.” In Debates on the Measurement of Global Poverty, edited by Sudhir Anand, Paul Segal, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. Oxford University Press, 2009 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Weights on the Rise: Where and for Whom?” Journal of Economic Inequality 7 (4): 351–370, December, 2009.
“Risk, Knowledge and Health in Africa: Introduction to the Symposium,” African Development Review 21 (1): 1–4, April 2009 (co-authors: Olu Ajakaiye, Christopher B. Barrett, Ravi Kanbur, and Stephen Younger).
“Determinants of HIV Knowledge and Behavior in Madagascar: An Analysis Using DHS Data,” African Development Review 21 (1): 147–179, April 2009 (co-authors: Peter Glick and Josée Randriamamonjy).
“Measuring Intra-Household Inequality: Explorations Using the Body Mass Index,” Health Economics 18 (1): S13–S36, April 2009 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Cognitive Skills among Children in Senegal: Disentangling the Roles of Schooling and Family Background,” Economics of Education Review 28 (2): 178–188, April 2009 (co-author: Peter Glick).
“Growth and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Macroeconomic Adjustment and Beyond.” In Poverty and Globalization, edited by Paul Collier and Jan Willem Gunning. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Are Africans Practicing Safer Sex: Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys for Eight Countries,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 56 (2): 397–439, January, 2008 (co-author: Peter Glick).
“The Joint Demand for Health Care, Leisure, and Commodities: Implications for Health Care Finance and Access in Vietnam,” Journal of Development Studies 43 (8): 1475–1500, November 2007 (co-authors: Chad D. Meyerhoefer and Stephen D. Younger).
“Robust Multidimensional Poverty Comparisons with Discrete Indicators of Well-being.” In Poverty and Inequality Re-examined, edited by Stephen P. Jenkins and John Micklewright. Oxford University Press, 2007 (co-authors: Jean-Yves Duclos and Stephen D. Younger).
“Using an Ordinal Approach to Multidimensional Poverty Analysis.” In Quantitative Approaches to Multidimensional Poverty Measurement, edited by Nanak Kakwani and Jacques Silber. Palgrave-MacMillan, 2007. (co-authors: Jean-Yves Duclos and Stephen D. Younger).
“Estimating the Consequences of Unintended Fertility for Child Health and Education in Romania: An Analysis Using Twins Data,” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 69 (5): 667–691, 2007 (co-authors: Peter Glick and Alessandra Marini).
“Changes in HIV/AIDS Knowledge And Testing Behavior In Africa: How Much and for Whom?” Journal of Population Economics 20 (2): 383–422 (April), 2007 (co-author: Peter Glick).
“Changes in Inequality and Poverty in Latin America: Looking Beyond Income to Health and Education,” Journal of Applied Economics IX (2): 215–234 (November), 2006 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Robust Multidimensional Poverty Comparisons,” Economic Journal 116 (514): 943–968, 2006 (co-authors: Jean-Yves Duclos and Stephen D. Younger).
“Robust Multidimensional Spatial Poverty Comparisons in Ghana, Madagascar, and Uganda,” World Bank Economic Review 20 (1): 91–113, 2006 (co-authors: Jean-Yves Duclos and Stephen D. Younger).
“The Demand for Primary Schooling in Madagascar: Price, Quality, and the Choice between Public and Private Providers,” Journal of Development Economics 79 (1): 118–145, 2006 (co-author: Peter Glick).
“Equality of What? Evidence from India.” In Poverty, Inequality and Development: Essays in Honor of Erik Thorbecke, edited by Alain de Janvry and Ravi Kanbur. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2005.
“Consistent Estimation of Longitudinal Censored Demand Systems: An Application to Transition Country Data,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 87 (3): 660–672, 2005 (co-authors: Chad Meyerhoefer and Christine R. Ranney).
“Improvements in Children’s Health: Does Inequality Matter?” Journal of Economic Inequality 3 (2): 125–143, 2005 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Socioeconomic Determinants of Children’s Health in Russia: A Longitudinal Study,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 53 (2): 479–500, 2005 (co-author: Leonid Federov).
“Intertemporal Female Labor Force Behavior in a Developing Country: What Can We Learn from a Limited Panel?” Labour Economics 12 (1): 23–45, 2005 (co-author: Peter Glick).
“Growth and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Macroeconomic Adjustment and Beyond,” Journal of African Economies 13 (90001): i66–i95, 2004 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Child Allowances and Allocative Decisions in Romania Households,” Applied Economics. 36 (14): 1513–1521, 2004 (co-author: Ari Gerstle).
“Strengthening Quantitative Methods Through Incorporating Qualitatative Information.” In Q?Squared: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Poverty Appraisal, edited by Ravi Kanbur. Delhi: Permanent Black, 2003.
“Estimating the Incidence of Indirect Taxes in Developing Countries.” In The Impact of Economic Policies on Poverty and Income Distributions: Evaluation Techniques and Tools, edited by François Bourguignon and Luiz A. Pereira da Silva. Washington, DC and New York: The World Bank and Oxford University Press, 2003 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Urban-Rural Inequality in Africa,” Journal of African Economies. 12 (4): 564–597, 2003 (co-author: David Stifel)
“Exploring Alternative Measures of Welfare in the Absence of Expenditure Data,” Review of Income and Wealth 49 (4): 463–489, December, 2003 (co-author: David C. Stifel).
“Decomposing World Health Inequality,” Journal of Health Economics 22 (2): 271–293, 2003 (co-authors: Menno Pradhan and Stephen Younger).
“The Demand for Health Care Services in Rural Tanzania,” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 65 (2): 241–260, 2003 (co-authors: Stephen D. Younger and Garance Genicot).
“Progress Toward the Millennium Development Goals in Africa,” World Development 31 (1): 23–52, 2003 (co-author: David C. Stifel).
“Incidence and Implications of Public Spending in the Health and Education Sectors in Tanzania.” In Education and Health Expenditure and Poverty Reduction in East Africa, edited by Christian Morrisson. Paris, OECD, 2002 (co-author: Sylvie Lambert).
“Parental Preferences for Nutrition of Boys and Girls: Evidence from Africa,” Journal of Development Studies 39 (1): 21–45, 2002 (co-author: David C. Stifel).
“Robust Comparisons of Malnutrition in Developing Countries,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 84 (3): 716–735, 2002 (co-author: David C. Stifel).
“Expenditure Incidence in Africa: Microeconomic Evidence,” Fiscal Studies 21 (3): 329–347, 2000 (co-author: Stephen D. Younger).
“Dominance Testing of Transfers in Romania,” Review of Income and Wealth 45 (3): 309–327, 2000 (September) (co-authors: Stephen Younger and Kenneth Simler).
“Poverty Comparisons Over Time and Across Countries in Africa,” World Development 28 (12): 2123–2155, 2000 (co-author: David C. Stifel).
“A General Equilibrium Analysis of the Effect of Macroeconomic Adjustment on Poverty in Africa,” Journal of Policy Modeling 22 (6): 753–776, 2000 (co-author: Paul A. Dorosh).
“Schooling of Girls and Boys in a West African Country: The Effects of Parental Education, Income, and Household Structure,” Economics of Education Review 19 (1): 63–87, 2000 (co-author: Peter Glick).
Director, Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program (CFNPP)
Cornell Graduate Field Memberships: Economics; Applied Economics and Management; Policy Analysis and Management; International Development; Nutrition; and Demography
Research Fellow, Institute for the Study of Labor (Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit), Bonn, Germany, 2015–present
Senior Fellow, FERDI Senior Fellow, Foundation for International Development Study and Research (FERDI), Clermont-Ferrand, France, 2017–present
Project Coordinator: Collaborative Research Program, Impact of Agricultural and Food Policies on Nutrition Outcomes in Africa, African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi, Kenya, 2017–present.
Associate Member, CIRPÉ (Centre Interuniversitaire sur le Risque, les Politiques Économiques et l’Emploi), 2002–present
African Economic Research Consortium Steering Committee, 1996–present
Programme Committee, African Economic Research Consortium, 2011–present
Member, Strategic Planning Committee, Division of Nutritional Sciences, 2016–present
Chair, Appointments and Tenure Review Committee, Division of Nutritional Sciences, 2016–present
Faculty Associate, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development, 2013–present
Faculty Member, Food Systems and Poverty Reduction, IGERT PhD Traineeship Program, 2013–present
Faculty Fellow, David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2009–present
Member, Social Science Internal Advisory Council (SSIAC), Cornell University, 2009–present
Faculty Affiliate and Executive Board, Cornell Population Program, Ithaca, NY 2007–present
Faculty Associate and Advisory Board Member, Institute for African Development, 2007–present
Faculty Affiliate, Center for the Study of Inequality, 2004–present
Faculty Associate, Program for Comparative Economic Development, 2000–present
Center for International Studies, CFNPP Director, 1995–present
I have undertaken research on the effects of government policies and programs on the poor. In addition, my research focuses on the functioning of the market and the behavior of various agents, including enterprises, households, and individuals, in order to understand how policy change affects health, nutrition, and human resource development. My research activities are also devoted to training and capacity building of research institutions in Africa and working with government officials and international organizations to integrate research findings into policy.
Director , Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program
1984, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1976, Master of Public Health, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
1975, Bachelor of General Studies, University of Michigan Ann Arbor