Alexander Pfaff, Associate Professor of Public Policy  

Office Location: 108 Rubenstein Hall
Office Phone: (919) 613-9240
Email Address: alex.pfaff@duke.edu
Web Page:http://www.duke.edu/~asp9/

Areas of Expertise

  • Environment, Environmental Law, Regulation and Policy
  • International, Environmental Management and Policy

Education:
PhD (Economics), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995
BA (Applied Math/Economics) summa cum laude, Yale University, 1988

Teaching (Fall 2009):

  • Pubpol 264s.10, Adv top in public policy
    Rubenstein 149, W 02:50 PM-05:20 PM
  • Pubpol 318.01, Adv. micro. & public policy
    Sanford 150, MW 08:30 AM-09:45 AM

Representative Publications   (More Publications)

  1. Sanchez-Azofeifa, A. Pfaff, J. Robalino & J. Boomhower. "Costa Rica’s Payment for Environmental Services Program: Intention, Implementation and Impact." Conservation Biology (2007). (forthcoming) [pdf]
  2. Pfaff, A., J.A. Robalino, R. Walker, E. Reis, S. Perz, C. Bohrer, S. Aldrich, E. Arima & M. Caldas. "Road Investments, Spatial Intensification and Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon." Journal of Regional Science 47 (February 2007): 109-123. [pdf]
  3. Ahmed, M.F. , S. Ahuha, M. Alauddin, S.J. Hug, J.R. Lloyd, A. Pfaff, T. Pichler, C. Saltikov, M. Stute and A. van Geen. "Ensuring Safe Drinking Water in Bangladesh." Science 314 (December 15, 2006): 1687-88. [pdf]
  4. Madajewicz, M., A. Pfaff, J. Graziano, A. van Geen, I. Hussein, H. Momotaj, R. Sylvi & H. Ahsan. "Can Information Alone Both Improve Awareness and Change Behavior? Arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh." Journal of Development Economics (2007). (forthcoming) [pdf]
  5. Broad, K., A. Pfaff, R. Taddei, S. Arumugam, U. Lall & A. Souza Filho. "Climate, Stream Flow Prediction and Water Management in Northeast Brazil: societal trends and forecast value." Climatic Change (2007). (forthcoming)

Curriculum Vitae

Bio/Profile
Alexander Pfaff, PhD, is an associate professor of public policy, economics and environment at Duke University’s Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He is an environment and natural-resource economist whose work frequently focuses on developing countries.

His current research examines the impacts of roads, protected areas and payments for ecosystem services on deforestation (Brazilian Amazon, Costa Rica, Mexico); what drives decisions that lower harmful exposures, such as to indoor emissions (Pakistan, Tanzania, Ghana) and arsenic in drinking water (Bangladesh); how households respond to climate and water shocks in daily production decisions and when faced with new tradeoffs by water policies (N.E. Brazil); and how regulators might shift the incentives for firms to provide environmental information. The goal of his applied research is to raise the chance that interventions have their intended impacts on the environment and natural resources while benefiting the people they are designed to help.

Pfaff’s work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (Methods and Models for Integrated Assessment (MMIA) and Human and Social Dynamics (HSD)); NOAA (Office of Global Programs (OGP)), NASA (integrated Amazonia program (LBA)); The Tinker Foundation (focused upon Latin America) and NCEAS (National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis). It has involved theses for undergraduates, master's students and PhD candidates in economics, anthropology, ecology, public policy and environmental management.

Alexander Pfaff