[1] Alongside Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Edward Miguel, he has been a leading proponent of the use of randomized controlled trials to inform policy decisions in developing countries.

[4] Prior to beginning his undergraduate studies, he attended Duke University's PreCollege Talent Identification Program, where he met his wife, Cindy, in 1986.

[9] At present, he is also on leave as an affiliate of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, an MIT-based research institute founded by his doctoral supervisors.

[10] In addition to his academic appointments, Karlan is also a social entrepreneur, having founded several organizations leveraging insights from development economics and behavioral science.

During graduate school, Karlan entered into a bet with fellow student John Romalis, agreeing to pay his peer $10,000 if he did not lose at least 38 pounds by a pre-determined date.

[11] The experience encouraged Karlan and Ian Ayres, a lawyer and economist at Yale University, to found StickK.com, an internet company allowing users to enter into legally binding agreements relating to their own personal goals.

He has studied microeconomic issues of financial decision-making, specifically employing randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to examine what works and what does not and why with respect to interventions and businesses intended to address problems in society.

[16] Karlan is also co-Founder of StickK, a company that manages incentive-based employee wellness programs and public campaigns for health living, and enables users to make commitment contracts in order to reach their personal goals.