Alexander Pfaff, Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy

Alex Pfaff is a Professor of Public Policy, Economics and Environment at Duke University. He studies how economic development affects and is affected by natural resources and the environment. His focus is on the impacts of conservation policies (such as protected areas, ecoservices payments, and certifications) and development policies (such as roads and rights). Those impacts are functions of choices by individuals and communities that affect land use, water quantity and quality, human exposures (to arsenic, mercury, mining, and particulates), and both the provision and use of information.

Research accessible at AlexPfaff.com

Office Location:
Email Address:
Web Page:	http://alexpfaff.com/

Teaching (Fall 2024):

• PUBPOL 303D.001, MICROECONOMIC POLICY TOOLS Synopsis

  Sanford 04, TuTh 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

• PUBPOL 303D.01D, MICROECONOMIC POLICY TOOLS Synopsis

  Sanford 04, F 12:00 PM-12:50 PM

• PUBPOL 574.01, ECON EVAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVEL Synopsis

  Sanford 03, MW 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 572.01)

• PUBPOL 574.02, ECON EVAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVEL Synopsis

  Sanford 03, MW 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 572.02)

• PUBPOL 574.03, ECON EVAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVEL Synopsis

  Sanford 03, MW 01:25 PM-02:40 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 572.03)

• PUBPOL 579S.01, COLLECTIVE ACTION Synopsis

  Sanford 102, W 03:20 PM-05:50 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 579S.01)

• PUBPOL 579S.02, COLLECTIVE ACTION Synopsis

  Sanford 102, W 03:20 PM-05:50 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 579S.02)

• PUBPOL 579S.03, COLLECTIVE ACTION Synopsis

  Sanford 102, W 03:20 PM-05:50 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 579S.03)

Education:

Ph.D.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	1995
B.A.	Yale University	1988

Specialties:

Development Economics

Keywords:

Acre • Arsenic • Carbon • Deforestation • Economics • Fuel • Indoor air pollution • Land use • Malaria • Policy • Protected areas • Toilets • Tropics • Uncertainty

Recent Publications

1. Blanco, E; Moros, L; Pfaff, A; Steimanis, I; Velez, MA; Vollan, B, No crowding out among those terminated from an ongoing PES program in Colombia, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 120 (July, 2023) [doi]  [abs]
2. Keles, D; Pfaff, A; Mascia, MB, Does the Selective Erasure of Protected Areas Raise Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10 no. 4 (July, 2023), pp. 1121-1147 [doi]  [abs]
3. Rico-Straffon, J; Wang, Z; Panlasigui, S; Loucks, CJ; Swenson, J; Pfaff, A, Forest concessions and eco-certifications in the Peruvian Amazon: Deforestation impacts of logging rights and logging restrictions, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 118 (March, 2023) [doi]  [abs]
4. Moros, L; Vélez, MA; Quintero, D; Tobin, D; Pfaff, A, Temporary PES do not crowd-out and may crowd-in lab-in-the-field forest conservation in Colombia, Ecological Economics, vol. 204 (February, 2023) [doi]  [abs]
5. Morgan, S; Pfaff, A; Wolfersberger, J, Environmental Policies Benefit Economic Development: Implications of Economic Geography, Annual Review of Resource Economics, vol. 14 (January, 2022), pp. 427-446 [doi]  [abs]