DEDP MicroMasters Program
Tackle the most pressing problems facing the world’s poor from a rigorous, evidence-driven perspective with content and faculty from MIT’s Department of Economics and J-PAL.
Learn more and enroll in the MicroMasters >>
J-PAL and MIT’s Department of Economics designed the MicroMasters® Program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP) to equip learners with both practical skills and theoretical knowledge to tackle poverty alleviation using evidence-based approaches.
Through a series of online graduate-level courses, the content combines tools in program evaluation and policy design with a deep understanding of the economics and mathematical principles behind them. The program is unique in its focus on designing and running randomized evaluations to assess the effectiveness of social programs and its emphasis on hands-on skills in data analysis.
How the DEDP MicroMasters program works
The courses can be taken on their own or as a series of five courses within two academic tracks: the International Development Track or the Public Policy Track. To earn a DEDP MicroMasters program credential, learners complete three core courses (Microeconomics, Data Analysis for Social Scientists, and Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations) and two electives.
The International Development Track allows learners to apply the tools acquired through the core courses to explore development issues most prevalent in low- and middle-income countries experiencing massive and persistent poverty. The elective courses within the International Development Track are: The Challenges of Global Poverty (Intro), Foundations of Development Policy: Advanced Development Economics (Advanced), and Political Economy and Economic Development (Advanced).
The Public Policy Track will also require learners to rely on the tools acquired through the core courses to address a range of public policies, including local issues and those that transcend geographic boundaries. The elective courses within the Public Policy Track are: Good Economics for Hard Times (Intro) and Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy (Advanced).
The five courses can be taken in any sequence, and the curriculum gives learners the flexibility to choose which electives they take within each track.
Learners who receive a MicroMasters Program credential will then be eligible to apply to MIT’s Master’s program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy. If accepted, students will earn credit for the MicroMasters Program courses and will be able to pursue an accelerated on-campus Master’s degree at MIT. Credential holders can also earn graduate credit at a number of pathway universities across the globe.
Who should enroll?
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Policymakers and practitioners from governments, NGOs, international aid agencies, foundations, and other entities in the development sector
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Academics and evaluators looking to re-tool and apply data-driven perspectives to social and development programs
- Students interested in pursuing admission to graduate programs in development economics, public policy, political science, or related fields
- Social entrepreneurs, managers, and researchers in the development sector
"I’ve worked in government and international agencies, and know how important a thorough grounding in economics and data analysis is to good policymaking. Our aim with this MicroMasters is to give people—wherever they are in the world—the skills they need to bring the best analytical tools and empirical evidence to bear to help solve the world’s most pressing problems."
Rachel Glennerster, former J-PAL Executive Director
What you will learn
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To identify and analyze the root causes of underdevelopment using principles of economics
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To interpret the findings of empirical research that evaluates the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies, policies, and interventions
- Practical knowledge on how to design and implement rigorous randomized evaluations and other econometric methods for evaluating policies and programs
- Tools of comparative cost-effectiveness analysis for informed policy-making
- Fundamentals of microeconomics, development economics, probability, and statistics
- Hands-on skills in data analysis using the R programming language
"The world of development policy has become increasingly evidence-based. Development practitioners need to understand not just development issues, but how to analyze them in rigorous ways using data."
Benjamin Olken, J-PAL Director
Hear from a MicroMasters learner
“Students who earn the MicroMasters credential and master’s degree in DEDP will come out ready to be leaders in their field and to change the world. They’ll acquire the tools to be creative, analytical thinkers who will reinvent antipoverty policy. And they’ll gain the courage and skills to put all their ideas to the test, and fail, and try again until they succeed.”
Esther Duflo, J-PAL Co-Founder and Director
MicroMasters courses
Core Courses
MITx 14.100x: Principles of Microeconomics
Use economic models to learn how prices and markets benefit society in the face of scarcity, and then apply those models to analyze policy.
Instructor
Jonathan Gruber, Ford Professor of Economics, MIT
JPAL102x: Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations
Learn how to both design randomized evaluations and implement them in the field to measure the impact of social programs.
Instructors
Rachel Glennerster, former Executive Director, J-PAL; Chief Economist at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (formerly DFID)
Esther Duflo, Director, J-PAL; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT
MITx 14.310x: Data Analysis for Social Scientists
Learn methods for harnessing and analyzing data to answer questions of cultural, social, economic, and policy interest.
Instructors
Esther Duflo, Director, J-PAL; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT
Sara Fisher Ellison, Senior Lecturer, Economics, MIT
International Development Track Elective Courses (Choose 2 of 3)
MITx 14.73x: The Challenges of Global Poverty
A course for those who are interested in the challenge posed by massive and persistent world poverty.
Instructors
Esther Duflo, Director, J-PAL; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT
Abhijit Banerjee, Director, J-PAL; Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT
MITx 14.740x: Foundations of Development Policy: Advanced Development Economics
Using economic theory and data analysis, explore the economic lives of the poor, and the ways to design and implement effective development policy.
Instructors
Esther Duflo, Director, J-PAL; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT
Abhijit Banerjee, Director, J-PAL; Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT
Benjamin Olken, Director, J-PAL; Professor of Economics, MIT
MITx 14.750x: Political Economy and Economic Development
Explore why and how political institutions affect economic development, and apply key theories and empirical techniques to real-world examples ranging from voting and corruption to the role of the media.
Instructors
Abhijit Banerjee, Director, J-PAL; Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT
Benjamin Olken, Director, J-PAL; Professor of Economics, MIT
Public Policy Track Elective Courses
MITx 14.009x: Good Economics for Hard Times (Intro)
Learn how current applied economics uses data to address today’s most pressing issues in the United States and other advanced economies.
Instructors
Esther Duflo, Director, J-PAL; Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT
Abhijit Banerjee, Director, J-PAL; Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics, MIT
MITx 14.003x: Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy (Advanced)
Explore how to evaluate causal effects of policy interventions on economic outcomes using empirical examples drawn mostly from the US and other high income countries.
Instructors
David H. Autor, Ford Professor of Economics, MIT
To learn more about the program and enroll, visit the MicroMasters portal.
Questions? Contact [email protected].