Joshua Blumenstock

Joshua Blumenstock is an Assistant Professor at the U.C. Berkeley School of Information, and the Director of the Data-Intensive Development Lab. His research lies at the intersection of machine learning and development economics, and focuses on using novel data and methods to better understand the causes and consequences of global poverty. Recent projects use terabyte-scale data on network communication to understand the lasting impacts of corruption and violence (Afghanistan), the impact of ethnic segregation on the structure of social networks (Estonia), the role of migrants in labor markets (Rwanda and Pakistan), and the potential for Mobile Money and similar mobile phone-based technologies to reduce economic frictions and improve welfare and well-being (Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania). He is a recipient of the Intel Faculty Early Career Honor, a Gates Millennium Grand Challenge award, a Google Faculty Research Award, and is a former fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation and the Harvard Institutes of Medicine.