people

Kelsey Jack

Kelsey Jack
Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
University of California, Santa Barbara
Associate Professor

Kelsey Jack does research at the intersection of environmental and development economics, with a focus on how individuals, households, and communities decide to use natural resources and provide public goods. Much of her research uses field experiments to test theory and new policy innovations. She has conducted research in numerous countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and has ongoing work in South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Niger. She joined the Bren School after seven years as an Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at Tufts University and a postdoc position at MIT, with the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI) at J-PAL. She holds a bachelors degree in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University and a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University. Before graduate school, she spent two years in Lao PDR working for IUCN.

Publications

Jack, B.K. and G. Smith. 2020.
"Prepaid electricity metering in South Africa. "
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12(2): 134-168.​
Oliva, P., B.K. Jack, S. Bell, C. Severen and E. Walker. 2020. 
"Technology adoption under uncertainty: Take-up and subsequent investment in Zambia. "
Appendix Review of Economics and Statistics​, 102(3): 617-632.