I am a professor at the Department of Economics and the UBS Center for Economics in Society at University of Zurich. I joined in 2016 as Professor of Development and Emerging Markets. Before moving to Zurich, I was an Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. I am a Swedish citizen and got my PhD in Economics at IIES Stockholm University in 2010.

My research interests include development economics and political economy, broadly speaking. A current focus is on understanding the drivers of culture and norms in shaping labor markets for men and women and the role of social media in shaping society. Another priority is the development and testing of a research concept that aims at searching for scalable solutions to pressing societal challenges in developing countries, by leveraging rapid experimentation and artificial intelligence, called the Social Catalyst Lab.

I co-chair the Partnership for AI Evidence (PAIE) at Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), whose mission is to identify, evaluate, and scale innovative applications of AI for social good and in the fight against poverty. Funded by generous support from Google.org, PAIE brings together AI adopters, tech companies, and researchers.

I am also a co-organizer of the annual The Zurich Workshop in AI + Economics, where the mission is to bring together economists interested in (1) adapting AI tools – e.g. machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision – in empirical economics, and (2) empirical economic analysis of AI technologies in society. The workshop provides an opportunity for discussion on frontier works at this intersection of fields.

Faculty affiliations include: Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), The Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), European Development Research Network (EUDN) and Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Previously member of the Political Economy group at National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).

I serve as Associate Editor on the editorial boards at the following academic journals: QJE and JPE. I have previously served on Econometrica, REStud, AEJ: Policy, JEEA, REStat.

I was a recipient of the Yrjö Jahnsson Award in 2025.

Email:  David.Yanagizawa-Drott@econ.uzh.ch

Office Address:
Department of Economics
Schönberggasse 1
8001 Zurich, Switzerland

Support Staff:
Michèle Himmelrich
Office: SOF-G29
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Email: michele.himmelrich@econ.uzh.ch