David Levine

Research Bio

Dr. Levine’s research focuses on understanding and overcoming barriers to improving health in poor nations.  This research has examined both how to increase demand for health-promoting goods such as safer cookstoves and water filters, and how to change health-related behaviors such as handwashing with soap.  He has run several dozen randomized trials and qualitative studies in poor nations on these topics.  An ongoing project is Hygiene Heroes, which is developing and testing a school-based health curriculum. He has also written extensively on organizational learning (and failures to learn).  His research has been published in the journals Science, Environmental Science and Technology, and The American Economic Review.

Research Expertise and Interest

economic development, labor and organizational economics, health economics, wage determination, corporate social responsibility

In the News

Clean hands save lives, so wash up, Berkeley expert says

You don’t have to remind David Levine, UC Berkeley professor of business administration, to carry hand sanitizer and wash his hands thoroughly with soap. But why do many of us — from children to adults — lack these habits, even in a pandemic?

Teaching

Courses taught during the three most recent terms
2026 Spring
  • Senior Honors Thesis  [ECON H195B]  

  • Supervised Research: Social Sciences  [UGIS 192B]  

2025 Fall
  • Supervised Research: Social Sciences  [UGIS 192B]  

2025 Spring
  • Senior Honors Thesis  [ECON H195B]  

  • Supervised Independent Study and Research  [UGBA 199]  

  • Supervised Research: Social Sciences  [UGIS 192B]