Development Economics
Notre Dame development economist Professor Rebecca Thornton opens a window into global-poverty solutions through the lens of rigorous field experiments in Nepal.
Experience the Event
Presented by Notre Dame Poverty Initiative
In this episode, development economist Professor Rebecca Thornton opens a window into global-poverty solutions through the lens of rigorous field experiments in Nepal. Her pioneering work was originally shared with Notre Dame’s Poverty Research Fellows–a passionate cohort of undergraduates dedicated to wielding rigorous, evidence-based research to uncover lasting pathways out of poverty. By grounding her work in local communities, Professor Thornton demonstrates how data-driven evidence can burst through prevailing opinions and biases–revealing the true nature of the challenges we must solve.
Poverty Research From Every Angle highlights Notre Dame faculty from across the University leading the charge. This approach is critical because poverty is never a single problem with a single solution–it is a complex web of interconnected challenges spanning health, education, the environment, and our legal systems. No single discipline holds the entire picture, but each illuminates something the others cannot see alone. Over the course of this series, you will see how Notre Dame’s brightest minds are bridging these fields, sharing impactful research, and collaborating to build real, lasting paths out of poverty.
To learn more about the work of Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative, please visit their website. Register for the Poverty Initiative’s email newsletter here.
Meet the Faculty: Rebecca Thornton
Rebecca Thornton is a Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. Before joining Notre Dame, she held faculty appointments at Baylor University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on health, education, gender, and demography, examining how information, incentives, and social context shape decision-making and well-being. She has led field experiments and longitudinal studies in countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America on topics including HIV prevention, reproductive health, health insurance, student learning, and teacher effectiveness. Professor Thornton received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in Political Economy and Government, a joint program in Economics and Public Policy.
Meet the Student: Kiki Shim '26
Keelyn (Kiki) Shim ’26 studied economics and global affairs at the University of Notre Dame. She is interested in the intersection between gender, family planning, and economic outcomes. She worked under Professor Eva Dziadula, a professor of economics who focuses on the impact immigration has on marital outcomes, family planning, and citizenship acquisition. Shim previously assisted with Professor Dziadula’s project on the relationship between hate crimes and an Indian online matrimonial platform’s traffic patterns, and she assisted with various projects on topics including immigrant utilization of state family planning policies and the effect of transnational marriage on trade outcomes. For her own research work, she wrote an economics senior thesis that explored the differences in household task allocation between same-sex and opposite-sex couples using the American Time Use Survey.
While a student, Shim interned with the Lab for Economic Opportunities. In her role as a Research Operations Intern, she used statistical programming languages to clean and merge complex datasets, drafted proposals, and presented findings to a research team. Shim also previously worked for the Department of Transportation in Washington, DC where she researched the impacts of proposed construction projects on endangered species. In the summer of 2023, she participated in the Institute for Social Concerns’ NDBridge program and interned at Hopeprint, a nonprofit in Syracuse, NY. On campus, she is involved in the Jubilee Initiative for Financial Inclusion and is passionate about non-profit work that helps individuals to find financial freedom and empowerment.