Kelly Jones is an applied microeconomist and her work focuses on evaluating the impacts of various policies and interventions on gender equality and welfare. Her recent work includes experimental analyses of women’s risk coping strategies in the face of financial shocks, and the implications for women’s sexual and reproductive health in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has also analyzed the impact of US foreign policy on women’s fertility outcomes internationally. In mid-2018, she launched a new line of research exploring the economic implications of access to reproductive health services in the United States.

Other ongoing work includes field experiments in Uganda and Ghana on the role of gender dynamics in intra-household allocation of resources and productive activities. In particular, she is exploring women’s contributions to and empowerment within small-scale commercial agriculture.