Mark Pitt's research focuses on theoretically informed analysis of the demographic and health-related behaviors of households, primarily in the developing world, and has emphasized primary data collection. Issues of gender and intrahousehold resource allocation are central themes, with the effects of targeted micro-credit programs on household resource allocation being the most important topic he has tackled in recent years.

Pitt's research focuses on theoretically informed analysis of the demographic and health-related behaviors of households, primarily in the developing world, and has emphasized primary data collection. Issues of gender and intrahousehold resource allocation are central themes, with the effects of targeted micro-credit programs on household resource allocation being the most important topic he has tackled in recent years.

Current:

Microcredit and Health Services Experiment in Bangladesh, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 08/16/05 - 08/15/10 (2007/08 budget - $38,000)

Children's Health and Nutrition, Adult Outcomes, and Intergenerational and Spatial Mobility, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), 9/01/05 - 8/31/09 (2005/06 budget - $323,143)

World Bank (with Shahidur Khandker): "Individual and Group Default Incentives in Microfinance: A Proposal to Study the Role of Groups in the Grameen Bank," 2004-06


Past:

Department of Energy (Brian O/Neill, PI): "Improvement of Demographic Components of Integrated Assessment Models," 2001-04

World Bank/Urban Institute (with Signe-Mary McKernan): "Study of Gender and Transfers," 2003

Swedish aid (Sida)/ Netherlands aid/ World Bank: "Female-only Schooling Stipends and Human Capital Accumulation: An Evaluation of the Female Secondary School Assistance Program in Bangladesh," 2000-01

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to Morgan State University (Ruhul Amin, PI).: "The Impact of a Comprehensive School-based Health, Educational, and Vocational Service Program for Pregnant Adolescents on Pregnancy Outcomes and Child Health: The Paquin School Project in Baltimore," 2000-01

World Bank Research Program: "How Do the Poor Cope with a Widespread Natural Disaster? A Study of the 1998 Flood of Rural Bangladesh" (with Shahidur Khandker), 1999-2001

World Bank Research Program: "Does Micro-credit Empower Women?" (with Shahidur Khandker), 1999-2001

Danish aid and Mellon Foundation (Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Dhaka): "Longitudinal Survey of Health and Socioeconomic Status in Rural Bangladesh," 1999-2000

World Bank Research Program: "Long-term Impacts of Micro-Credit Programs," 1998-2000

World Bank Research Program: "The Impact of Credit Programs on the Intrahousehold Distribution of Health and Nutrition, and on Consumption Smoothing in Bangladesh," 1996-97

Asian Development Bank/World Bank: "Evaluation of the IDT Poverty Alleviation Program in Indonesia," 1996-97

World Bank Research Program: "The Determinants of Infant Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa," 1993

World Bank Research Program: "The Determinants and Consequences of the Placement of Government Programs in Indonesia" (with M.R. Rosenzweig), 1991-92

World Bank Research Program: "The Socioeconomic Determinants of Fertility and Infant Mortality in Tanzania" (with Enos Bukuku), 1991-93

World Bank Research Program: "Credit Programs for the Poor and Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Bangladesh" (with Shahidur Khandker), 1991-96

Agency for International Development: "Study of Methods for Estimating the Prevalence of World Hunger" (with Robert Chen), 1990-91

National Institutes of Health: "Selectivity Effects of Fertility and Mortality on Child Health" (with M.R. Rosenzweig), 1990-94

Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities/Government of Indonesia: "Indonesia Second University Development Project," 1986-92

Rockefeller Foundation: "Fertility, Child Health and Gender Inequality" (with M.R. Rosenzweig), 1987-89

National Institutes of Health: "Rural Household Behavior and Policy Effects on Health, Mortality and Productivity in Five Developing Countries" (with M.R. Rosenzweig), 1986-89

World Bank Research Program: "The Timing and Sequencing of a Trade Liberalization Policy: The Indonesian Experience," 1984-88

Asian Development Bank (through Research Program in Development Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University): "Topics in Labor Market Behavior in Indonesia," 1986-87

University of Minnesota, summer faculty research appointment: "Food Preferences and Nutrition in Indonesia," 1982

Sloan Foundation (through the Department of Economics): "Transactions Costs and the Subjective Equilibrium of Family Farms," (with Lung Fei Lee), 1981

Quigley Center of International Studies, University of Minnesota: "Foreign Investment and the Pattern of Industrialization in Indonesia," 1979

University of Minnesota Graduate School Grant in Aid: "Multinational Firms and Choice of Technology in Indonesia," 1977

University of Minnesota Graduate School Grant in Aid: "The Incidence of Technological Change and Incentive Policy on Indonesian Paddy Cultivators," 1976

National Bureau of Economic Research: "Alternative Trade Strategies and Employment in Indonesia," 1976-78

Pitt, Mark M., Shahidur R. Khandker, and Jennifer Cartwright. "Empowering Women with Micro-finance: Evidence from Bangladesh." Economic Development and Cultural Change, forthcoming

Pitt M, Khandker S, Chowdhury O, Millimet D. Credit Programs for the Poor and the Health Status of Children in Rural Bangladesh. International Economic Review. 2003; 44: 87-118.

Pitt M, Khandker S. Credit Programs for the Poor and Seasonality in Rural Bangladesh. Journal of Development Studies. 2002; 39(2): 1-24.

Kao C, Lee L, Pitt M. Simulated Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Linear Expenditure System with Binding Non-negativity Constraints. Annals of Economics and Finance. 2001; 203-223.

Pitt M. The Effect of Nonagricultural Self-Employment Credit on Contractual Relations and Employment In Agriculture: The Case of Microcredit Programs in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Development Studies. 2000; June-Sept: 15-48.

Pitt M, Khandker S, McKernan S, Latif M. Credit Programs for the Poor and Reproductive Behavior in Low-Income Countries: Are the Reported Causal Relationships the Result of Heterogeneity Bias? Demography. 1999; 36: 1-21.

Pitt M, Khandker S. The Impact of Group-Based Credit Programs on Poor Households in Bangladesh: Does the Gender of Participants Matter? Journal of Political Economy. 1998; 106: 958-96.

Pitt M, Putterman L. Employment and Wages in Township, Village and Other Rural Enterprises. In Reform and Productivity in China's Industry, Jefferson G, Singh I. (eds.), Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Rosenzweig M, Lee L, Pitt M. The Effects of Improved Nutrition, Sanitation and Water Purity on Child Health in High-Mortality Populations. Journal of Econometrics. 1997; 77: 209-35.

Pitt M. The Specification and Estimation of the Demand for Goods within the Household. In Intrahousehold Resource Allocation: Policy Issues and Research Methods, Alderman H, Haddad L. (eds.). Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.

Pitt M. Estimating the Determinants of Child Health When Fertility and Mortality are Selective. Journal of Human Resources. 1997; 32: 127-158.

Pitt M. The Determinants and Consequences of the Placement of Government Programs in Indonesia. World Bank Economic Review. September, 1993: 114-149. Reprinted in Public Spending and the Poor: Theory and Evidence, van de Walle D, and Nead K. (eds.). Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press(for the World Bank), 1995.

Pitt M. Analyzing the Effect of Structural Adjustment on Health in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Understanding the Social Effects of Policy Reform, Demery L, Ferroni M, and Grootaert C. (eds.). World Bank, 1993.

Pitt M, Sumodiningrat G. Risk, Schooling and the Choice of Seed Technology in Developing Countries: A Meta-Profit Function Approach. International Economic Review. 1991; 32: 457-473.

Pitt M, Rosenzweig M, Hassan N. Productivity, Health and Inequality in the Intra-household Distribution of Food in Low-Income Countries. American Economic Review. December, 1990; 80:1139-1159.

Pitt M, Rosenzweig M. Estimating the Intrahousehold Incidence of Illness: Child Health and Gender-Inequality in the Allocation of Time. International Economic Review. November, 1990; 31: 969-989.

Pitt M, Slemrod J. The Compliance Cost of Itemizing Deductions: Evidence from Individual Tax Returns. American Economic Review. 1989; 79: 1224 1232.

Lee, Lung-Fei, and Mark M. Pitt. "The Econometrics of Rationing, Imperfect Markets and Binding Non Negativity Constraints." Journal of Econometrics 36 (1987), 89 110.

Lee L, Pitt M. Microeconometric Demand Systems with Binding Non Negativity Constraints: The Dual Approach. Econometrica. 1986; 54:1237 1242.

Pitt, Mark M., and Mark R. Rosenzweig. "Agricultural Prices, Food Consumption and the Health and Productivity of Indonesian Farmers." In Inderjit Singh, Lyn Squire and John Strauss (eds.), Agricultural Household Models: Extensions, Applications and Policy, Johns Hopkins University Press (1986), 153 182.

Pitt M, Rosenzweig M. Health and Nutrient Consumption Across and Within Farm Households. The Review of Economics and Statistics. 1985; LXVII(2): 212 223.

Pitt, Mark M. "Equity, Externalities and Energy Subsidies: The Case of Kerosene in Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, 17 (1985), 201 217.

Pitt, Mark M. "Smuggling and the Black Market for Foreign Exchange." Journal of International Economics, 14 (1984), 243 257.

Pitt, Mark M. "Farm Level Fertilizer Demand in Java: A Meta Production Function Approach." American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 65 (1983), 502 508.

Pitt, Mark M. "Food Preferences and Nutrition in Rural Bangladesh." The Review of Economics and Statistics, LXV, 1983, 105 114, Spanish translation in Desarollo Rural en Las Americas.

Pitt, Mark M. and Lung-Fei Lee. "The Measurement and Sources of Technical Inefficiency in the Indonesian Weaving Industry." Journal of Development Economics, 9 (1981), 43 64.

Pitt, Mark M. "Smuggling and Price Disparity," Journal of International Economics, 11 (1981), 447 458.

Elected Fellow of Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD)

Econometric Society

American Economics Association

Population Association of America

Consultant to the World Bank, 1980-present

Population Council Fellowship Committee, 2001-03

National Institute for Child and Human Development, Special Emphasis Panel, 2002

Chairman of the Board, Economics Institute, Boulder, Colorado, 1998-2000

Fulbright Scholar Selection Committee, 1998-2000

Consultant to the Government of Indonesia on poverty alleviation programs in Indonesia, 1996-97

Consultant to USAID on the evaluation of credit programs for the poor in developing countries, 1996

Consultant to University of North Carolina Population Center on computer operations, 1994

Associate editor, Review of Economics and Statistics (published by Harvard University), 1993-2001

International Board of Overseers, North-South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1992-2000

Board of Directors and Executive Committee, Economics Institute, Boulder, Colorado, 1991-2000

Consultant, Food and Agricultural Organization, on preparations for the Sixth World Food Survey, 1990-91

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Special Review Committee, 1989, 1993

Visitor/advisor, Demographic Institute, University of Indonesia, 1986-present

Economic advisor to the Government of Mauritius, 1984

Ford Foundation, sponsored advisor to Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture, 1978-80