Damien de Walque is a Lead Economist in the Development Research Group (Human Development and Public Services Team) at the World Bank. He received his Ph.D.in Economics from the University of Chicago in 2003. His research interests include health and education and the interactions between them. His current work is focused on evaluating the impact of financial incentives on health and education outcomes.

He is working on evaluating the impact of HIV/AIDS interventions and policies in several African countries. He is leading two evaluations of the impact of short-term financial incentives on the prevention of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs): individuals who test negatively for a set of STIs receive regular cash payment in Tanzania, while in Lesotho they receive lottery tickets. He is evaluating the health and education impacts of cash transfers programs in the developing world. On the supply side of health services, he is managing a large portfolio of impact evaluations of results-based financing in the health sector. He was also an author and the editor of "Risking your Health: Causes, Consequences, and Interventions to Prevent Risky Behaviors", a book on risky behaviors for health (smoking, drugs, alcohol, obesity, risky sex) in the developing world.

He is a lead author of the World Bank Policy Research Report, Improving Effective Coverage in Health: Do Financial Incentives Work?

World Bank Development Research Group Personal Page, Google Scholar

Country experience in: Armenia, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eswatini, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Liberia, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda