Karla Hoff

Karla Hoff https://karlahoff.info Karla Hoff Sat, 21 Feb 2026 02:51:26 +0000 https://karlahoff.info en Introduction https://karlahoff.info/Introduction Sat, 21 Feb 2026 02:30:35 +0000 Karla Hoff https://karlahoff.info/Introduction Introduction My work in the last 20 years broadens behavioral economics to include the effect of culture on cognition and preferences. In a series of experiments, I showed that caste identities influence empathy, performance, trust, and coordination and cooperation both between and within castes. I co-directed the World Bank’s World Development Report 2015: Mind, Society, and Behavior,  the first synthesis of applications of behavioral economics to the process of development. My forthcoming book, The Other Invisible Hand: How Culture Shapes Us and the Societies We Create, breaks down barriers between disciplines to provide a more robust sense of how humans make decisions. The “other invisible hand” refers to the concepts, categories, and narratives through which the members of a society process information and create the common meanings that guide their behavior. The book shows that culture helps explain divergence in income between countries and between regions within countries. My work has been published in the American Economic Review, the Economic Journal, PNAS, the Journal of Development Economics, the Journal of International Economics, and many other journals. I co-edited two books—The Economics of Rural Organization and Poverty Traps. I earned a PhD in economics from Princeton University and was a National Merit Scholar. Since I retired from the World Bank, my main job has been to teach behavioral development economics at Columbia University.    Selected Publications https://karlahoff.info/Selected-Publications Sat, 21 Feb 2026 02:51:26 +0000 Karla Hoff https://karlahoff.info/Selected-Publications   Selected Publications Caste in stone         K. Hoff, P. Pandey         In: The Handbook of the Economics of Identity, eds. G. Akerlof, R.           Kranton, in press Behavioral Development Economics         In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance, 2023 Using behavioral economics to reduce poverty and oppresssion         A. Demeritt, K. Hoff         Social Philosophy & Policy (2023) 40(1): 185-209   Lab-in-the-field Experiments: Insights into Discrimination and Ways to Reduce It A. Demeritt, K. Hoff        The Handbook on Economics of Discrimination and Affirmative Action, A. Deshpande (ed.), 2022, Springer.2021 The Third Function of Law Is to Transform Cultural Categories K. Hoff, J. Walsh        In: K. Basu, R. Hockett (eds), Law, Economics, and Conflict,        Cornell University Press, 2021, pp. 55-85.   Cultural Impediments to Learning to Cooperate: An Experimental Study of High- and Low-Caste Men in Rural India B. Brooks, K. Hoff, P. Pandey         Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018) 115 (45): 11385-11392.    Striving for Balance in Economics: Towards a Theory of the Social Determination of Behavior          K. Hoff, J.E. Stiglitz         Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2016) 126B, 25-57.“Small Miracles”—Behavioral Insights to Improve Development Policy: The World Development Report 2015”         A. Demeritt, K. Hoff         In: Contemporary Issues in Development Economics, edited by                 Timothy Besley, 2015. London:  Palgrave Macmillan, 3, 19-43 Making Up People: The Effect of Identity on Performance in a Modernizing Society K. Hoff, P. Pandey Journal of Development Economics (2014) 106: 108-131 Caste and Punishment: The Legacy of Caste Culture in Norm Enforcement K. Hoff, M. Kshetramade, E. Fehr Economic Journal (2011) 121: F449-475 Equilibrium Fictions: A Cognitive Approach to Societal Rigidity K Hoff, JE Stiglitz American Economic Review (2010) 100 (2). 141-146. Online appendixStiglitz, Joseph E.         K. Hoff         In: The New Palgrave Encyclopedia, 2008   Exiting a Lawless State K. Hoff, J.E. Stiglitz Economic Journal (2008) 118: 1474-1497. Discrimination, Social Identity, and Durable Inequalities K. Hoff, P. Pandey       American Economic Review (2006) 96(2), 206-211. The Kin System as a Poverty Trap? K. Hoff, A. Sen In: Poverty Traps (eds. Bowles, Durlauf, Hoff) (Princeton U Press, 2006) 96-115. Homeownership, Community Interactions, and Segregation K. Hoff, A. Sen American Economic Review (2005) 95(4), 11167-1185. After the Big Bang? Obstacles to the Emergence of the Rule of Law in Post-Communist Societies K. Hoff, J.E. Stiglitz American Economic Review (2004) 94(3) 753-763. Modern Economic Theory and Development K. Hoff, J.E. Stiglitz In: Frontiers of Development Economics, eds. G. Meier and J.E. Stiglitz, Oxford U Press (2001), 389-459 Beyond Rosenstein-Rodan: The Modern Theory of Coordination Problems in Development K. Hoff In: Proceedings of the Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 2000 (2001): 145-188. Edited BooksPoverty Traps (with S. Bowles and S. Durlauf), Princeton University Press, 2006 (paperback edition, 2016). <img width="907" height="1360" width_o="907" height_o="1360" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/216313248214f7333ae8505c5454dd22dd514c4eac557258a4c1090cb207d16b/61W4GhY4-pL.jpg" data-mid="245126585" border="0" data-scale="29" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/907/i/216313248214f7333ae8505c5454dd22dd514c4eac557258a4c1090cb207d16b/61W4GhY4-pL.jpg" /> The Economics of Rural Organization: Theory, Practice, and Policy (with A. Braverman and J.E. Stiglitz), Oxford University Press, 1993.<img width="245" height="375" width_o="245" height_o="375" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5e4b9ff2f0731e6e32518833f47c1547520a7798811b4b1ceade3db4fc376ab4/The-Economics-of-Rural-Organization-Hoff-Karla-9780195208887.jpg" data-mid="245126584" border="0" data-scale="29" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/245/i/5e4b9ff2f0731e6e32518833f47c1547520a7798811b4b1ceade3db4fc376ab4/The-Economics-of-Rural-Organization-Hoff-Karla-9780195208887.jpg" /> Work in Progress https://karlahoff.info/Work-in-Progress Sun, 25 Jul 2021 22:50:36 +0000 Karla Hoff https://karlahoff.info/Work-in-Progress Work in Progress “Participatory Theater Empowers Women: Evidence from West Bengal, India” (with Saraswata Chaudhuri, Jyotsna Jalan, and Sattwik Santra) “Seeing Is Believing: The Effect of Personal Experiences on Community Cooperation” (with Rohini Somanathan) CV https://karlahoff.info/CV Sun, 25 Jul 2021 22:35:50 +0000 Karla Hoff https://karlahoff.info/CV Curriculum Vitae Karla Hoff November 2025(PDF Download) Info / Instagram links https://karlahoff.info/Info-Instagram-links Sun, 25 Jul 2021 22:27:59 +0000 Karla Hoff https://karlahoff.info/Info-Instagram-links      