Emily Oster

Prior to joining Chicago Booth in 2009, Emily Oster was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago and was also a Becker Fellow for the Initiative on Chicago Price Theory at the University of Chicago. Additionally, she currently serves as a Faculty Research Fellow for the National Bureau of Economic Research, and is a current recipient of a National Science Foundation Grant. She serves on the advisory board for the Express Scripts Center for Cost-Effective Consumerism.

Oster studies development economics and health economics. While her PhD research focused on "Hepatitis B and the Case of the Missing Women," her more recent research looks at HIV in Africa and status and equality in India. Most recently she co-authored with Robert Jensen, “The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women’s Status in India” in the Quarterly Journal of Economics and independently authored, “Does Increased Access Increase Equality? Health Investments and Gender Inequality in India” in the Journal of Development Economics.

Earning her B.A. (magna cum laude) in Economics from Harvard College, Oster went on to pursue a Ph.D. in Economics at Harvard University before joining the University of Chicago.

Selected Publications

With Robert Jensen, “The Power of TV: Cable Television and Women’s Status in India,” Quarterly Journal of Economics (August 2009).

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“Does Increased Access Increase Equality? Health Investments and Gender Inequality in India,” Journal of Development Economics, 89 (1): p. 62-76 (May 2009).

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With R. Dorsey et al,“Fear of health insurance loss among individuals at risk for Huntington disease,” American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A, 146A: p.2070-2077 (August 2008).

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“Sexually Transmitted Infections, Sexual Behavior and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120 (2): p. 467-515 (May 2005).

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