About

Seema Jayachandran is the Kenneth J. Boudreaux '65 Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University. Her research focuses on environmental conservation, gender equality, and other microeconomic topics in developing countries. She serves on the board of directors of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and leads J-PAL's gender sector. She is also co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research's program in Development Economics and co-editor of American Economic Review: Insights. In addition, she serves on the board of directors of CARE and the advisory councils of the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Rainforest Trust. Prior to joining Princeton, she was a faculty member at Northwestern University and Stanford University. She earned a PhD in economics from Harvard University, a master's degree in physics and philosophy from the University of Oxford where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from MIT.

Research topics

• Economics
• Sociology
• Economic growth
• Psychology
• Political Science
• Demographic economics
• Social Science
• Labour economics
• Social psychology
• Microeconomics
• Business
• Development economics
• Gender studies

Selected publications

• The Negligible Effect of Free Contraception on Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Burkina Faso

  American Economic Review · 2025-07-31 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access

  We conducted a randomized trial among 14,545 households in rural Burkina Faso to test the oft-cited hypothesis that limited access to contraception is an important driver of high fertility rates in West Africa. We do not find support for this hypothesis. Women who were given free access to modern contraception for three years did not have lower birth rates; we can reject even modest effects. We cross-randomized additional interventions to address inefficiencies that might depress demand for free contraception, specifically misperceptions about the child mortality rate and social norms. Free contraception did not significantly influence fertility even in combination with these interventions. (JEL D12, J13, J16, J18, O12)

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Copy number variation analysis of ZNF 280 by gene in native and exotic cattle breeds of Tamil Nadu

  International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The analysis of transcriptomes has uncovered numerous multi-copy gene families in the MSY region of the bovine Y chromosome. Prior research showed that variations in the copy number of certain genes were associated with bull fertility. Nonetheless, the analysis of copy number for Y-specific genes in Bos indicus breeds has not been explored. Recent research revealed that the copy number of the ZNF280BY gene varied from 28 to 380 in Bos taurus bulls. We examined the CNVs of ZNF280BY in 178 bulls comprising four Bos taurus breeds (HF and Jersey; CBHF and CBJ) and four Bos indicus (Kangayam, Bargur, Umblacherry and Pullikulam) utilizing relative Real time PCR. The single copy gene SRY served as a reference for calculating the multi copy gene, ZNF280BY. All breeds exhibited notable differences in the copy number between individual members. The copy number ranged between 124 and 591, with a median value of 307. In Bos indicus, the Umblacherry breed showed greater levels (Median copy number = 411), while the Bargur breed exhibited lower levels (Median copy number = 263) compared to other breeds. This research presents the copy number variation of ZNF280BY that requires further investigation regarding its relationship with fertility traits in Bos indicus.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Bioeconomic evaluation of cold pellet on laying performance in egg-type chickens across diverse seasons

  International Journal of Advanced Biochemistry Research · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This study aimed to investigate the impact of a climate-resilient feeding strategy, specifically the utilization of cold pellets, on the laying performance of commercial egg-type chickens. The experiment involved 96 commercial white leghorn layers were allocated to two experimental groups, one receiving the mash diet and the other cold pellet diet (prepared without steam) over a 40-week period. Various parameters, including egg production, egg quality, average daily feed intake, feed efficiency, nutrient metabolizability, tibial bone ash, and gene expression related to nutrient transporters (Maltase, GLUT 2, Aminopeptidase, and bo,+AT), were assessed. The cold pellet feeding strategy demonstrated notable improvements in egg production, egg weight, and feed efficiency within the pellet fed group without compromising egg quality. Notably, the cold pellet-fed birds exhibited less variation in feed intake, indicating the feeding strategy's resilience to environmental stress. Mineral retention, as evidenced by metabolizability of total ash and tibial ash content, was higher in the pellet fed group. The pellet fed group also exhibited increased relative expression of enzymes involved in carbohydrate digestion and protein, along with enhanced glucose transporter expression. Economic assessments, including egg feed price ratio (EPFR) and cost per dozen eggs (CPE), confirmed the cost-effectiveness of the cold pellet feeding strategy for egg-type chickens. These findings underscore the potential benefits of this strategy in terms of both production enhancement and economic viability.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Women's Power in the Household

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Informing Mothers about the Benefits of Conversing with Infants: Experimental Evidence from Ghana

  American Economic Journal Economic Policy · 2025-04-29

  article

  We evaluate a low-cost intervention designed to boost parents’ verbal engagement with infants, which tends to be limited in developing countries. In our randomized experiment, recent or expectant mothers watched a three-minute informational video and received a themed calendar. Six months later, treated mothers reported stronger belief in the benefits of verbal engagement, more frequent parent-infant conversation, and more advanced infant language skills. Treatment effects on objective measures of parent-child conversation frequency and infant skills were positive but insignificant. We find larger immediate treatment effects on objective parent-child conversation, suggesting potentially larger long-term effects had the behavior change stuck more. (JEL D83, D91, I26, J13, J16, O12)

  PublisherDOI

• Money (Not) to Burn: Payments for Ecosystem Services to Reduce Crop Residue Burning

  American Economic Review Insights · 2025-02-27 · 13 citations

  article

  We test whether payments for ecosystem services (PES) can curb the highly polluting practice of crop residue burning in India. Standard PES contracts pay participants after verification that they met a proenvironment condition (clearing fields without burning). We randomize paying a portion of the money up front and unconditionally to address liquidity constraints and farmer distrust, which may undermine the standard contract’s effectiveness. Incorporating partial up-front payment into the contract increases compliance by 10 percentage points, which is corroborated by satellite-based burning measurements. The cost per life saved is $3,600–$5,400. The standard PES contract has no effect on burning. (JEL D86, O13, Q12, Q15, Q18, Q53, Q58)

  PublisherDOI

• Clinical, hematobiochemical, and ultrasound profiles of mastitis in dairy cows

  International Journal of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study examined clinical, hematobiochemical, and ultrasound findings in cows with mastitis cases. A total of 164 cows were included, comprising 31 healthy animals and 133 cows with udder and milk changes. Significant differences between mastitis-affected and healthy cows were observed in udder and teat measurements. Mastitis-affected cows and control cows did not differ significantly in total leukocytes, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. However, mastitis-affected cows had lower monocyte counts and higher neutrophil counts. Ultrasonography showed increased milk vein measurements and distinct parenchymal changes in mastitis-affected quarters. Udder abscesses were present in 21% of mastitis-affected cows.

  PublisherDOI

• A study to assess the effectiveness of mental health nursing clinical competency model on academic performance among nursing students on selected college of nursing

  International Journal of Advanced Psychiatric Nursing · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen access

  Clinical competency encompassing knowledge, skill is crucial for safe and effective health care is essential for improving quality of care, patient safety and to improve the outcome. It aims to improve the academic performance of nursing students by enhancing their practical skill and knowledge in the field of mental health nursing. The study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of mental health nursing clinical competency model on academic performance among nursing students at selected college of nursing. A pre experimental one group pre-test, post-test research design was adopted for the study and 50 nursing students who meet inclusive criteria were selected by using probability sampling technique. The level of knowledge and skill was assessed by using modified clinical competency evaluation Mental Health Nursing checklist which includes general competency and specific competency using a likert scale of 5 from “always to never” for 45 minutes were spent for collecting data. The investigator gathered nursing students in a comfortable room and conducted video assisted teaching program (VATP) which includes teaching aims of cognitive, emotional and specific students abilities. After 7 days post-test was conducted with the same tool. The study findings showed that the pretest mean score of academic performance was 72.76 with standard deviation 19.02 and posttest mean score was 93.10 with standard deviation of 16.95. The mean difference score was 20.34. The calculated paired “t” test value of 8.298 which highly revealed that there was a statistically difference between pre-test and post-test level at skill p<0.05.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Assessment of genetic diversity in native cattle breeds of Tamil Nadu through Y-chromosome microsatellite markers and allelic profiling

  International Journal of Biology Sciences · 2025-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The Y-chromosome microsatellite DNA marker is used to understand the polymorphism of this marker in native cattle from Tamil Nadu, as the Y-chromosome marker serves as an analog line for males, while the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) line is relevant for females. The study involved 25 unrelated male animals from each breed, resulting in a total of 100 samples across the four breeds. The maximum number of alleles was two alleles identified at each Y-microsatellite locus, while the average allele count across populations was 1.1, and the total number of alleles was relatively low (ranging from 1 to 2 alleles). The heterozygosity values for seven breeds ranged from 0 to 53%. The INRA 062 locus had the highest heterozygosity value (53%) among the microsatellite loci in the Pullikulam cattle population, which are local cattle from southern part of Tamil Nadu. The PIC values for all microsatellites ranged from 0.10 to 0.29, with the highest value recorded in Umblacherry cattle.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Redesigning Payments for Ecosystem Services to Increase Cost-Effectiveness

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Health, Environmental Issues, and Price Effects in Developing Countries

  NSF · $403k · 2011–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Giacomo De Giorgi

  69 shared

• Jesse M. Cunha

  Naval Postgraduate School

  68 shared

• Rohini Pande

  Yale University

  60 shared

• Erica Field

  Duke University

  44 shared

• Natalia Rigol

  43 shared

• Diva Dhar

  Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

  40 shared

• Tarun Jain

  Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

  38 shared

• Adriana Lleras‐Muney

  University of California, Los Angeles

  15 shared

Education

• B.S., Electrical Engineering

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

• M.A., Physics and Philosophy

  University of Oxford

• Ph.D., Economics

  Harvard University