Yale University Amartya Sen Essay Prize 2026: Win Up to $8,000 for an Original Essay
Introduction
The 13th annual Amartya Sen Essay Prize Competition is inviting authors to submit original essays examining a particular component of illicit financial flows, the harms resulting from it, and possible ways to reform or curtail the problem.
The 2026 prize is jointly organised by Global Financial Integrity, Academics Stand Against Poverty, and Yale University’s Global Justice Program.
The competition is open to authors from diverse academic disciplines as well as people outside academia.
Essays should be approximately 7,000 to 9,000 words long. The organisers expect to award a total of USD 8,000 in prizes to two or three winners, with an example structure of $5,000 for first prize and $3,000 for second prize.
Past winners of the Amartya Sen Essay Prize are not eligible.
Benefits
Successful winners will compete for prizes totaling USD 8,000.
The organisers expect to award prizes to two or three winners. An example prize structure provided on the official page is:
- First Prize: $5,000
- Second Prize: $3,000
Winning essays must also be available for:
- Presentation at the next Yale Global Justice Program conference
- Publication in the journal Academics Stand Against Poverty
The competition provides an opportunity for authors to contribute research and analysis to discussions surrounding illicit financial flows, their effects and possible reforms.
Eligibility
The competition welcomes authors from diverse academic disciplines and from outside the academy.
However, past winners of the Amartya Sen Essay Prize are not eligible.
Essay Requirements
Entries must be original essays examining one particular component of illicit financial flows, the resulting harms and possible avenues of reform.
The essay should be approximately 7,000 to 9,000 words.
The subject can be narrowed by sector or geography.
A sector-focused essay could examine a particular activity, business or industry, including:
- Art
- Real estate
- Health care
- Technology
- Entertainment
- Shipping
- Weapons
- Agriculture
- Sports
- Gaming
- Education
- Politics
- Tourism
- Natural resource extraction
- Banking and financial services
It can also focus on an even narrower subsector, such as:
- Diamond trade
- Hunting
- Insurance
- Prostitution
A geographically focused essay can further narrow its subject to a particular region, country or province.
What the Essay Should Examine
The essay should:
- Describe the problematic activity.
- Evaluate the adverse effects that make the activity problematic.
- Estimate, in quantitative terms where possible, the magnitude of the relevant financial outflows.
- Estimate the damage caused to affected institutions and populations.
The harms examined may include:
- Abuse
- Exploitation
- Impoverishment of individuals
- Subdued economic activity
- Reduced prosperity
- Diminished tax revenues
- Reduced public spending
The essay should also explain why the harmful activity persists by examining the relevant incentives and enabling conditions.
Based on that explanation, authors should propose plausible ways to curtail the problem.
Proposed reforms may operate at different levels, including:
- Supranational rules and regimes
- National rules
- Corporate policies
- Professional ethics
- Individual initiatives
- Or a combination of these approaches
The task is also to identify who has the responsibility, capacity and potentially the knowledge and motivation to change behaviour toward effective curtailment.
The organisers will give special credit to papers that provide a detailed description of how change may come about in a particular geographical or sectoral context.
What Are Illicit Financial Flows?
The competition defines illicit financial flows as cross-border movements of funds that are illegally earned, transferred or used.
Examples include funds:
- Earned through illegal trafficking in persons, drugs or weapons.
- Illegally transferred through mispriced exchanges, such as transactions among affiliates of a multinational firm seeking to shift profits to reduce taxes.
- Moved through goods misinvoicing.
- Moved to evade taxes.
- Used for corruption by or of public or corporate officials.
Illicit financial flows are explicitly recognised as an obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and are singled out as Target #4 of SDG 16.
Submission Format
The entry must be sent as an email attachment.
The email message should identify the author, but the essay itself must be stripped of self-identifying references and formatted for blind review.
Deadline
The submission deadline is:
31 August 2026
Entries must be sent by email attachment on or before 31 August 2026.
How to Apply
Applicants should prepare an original essay of approximately 7,000–9,000 words addressing one particular component of illicit financial flows, its resulting harms and possible avenues of reform.
Before submitting, ensure that the essay:
- Focuses on a particular component of illicit financial flows.
- Examines the resulting harms.
- Discusses plausible avenues for reform.
- Meets the approximate 7,000–9,000-word length.
- Is an original work.
- Has self-identifying references removed from the essay.
- Is formatted for blind review.
The entry should then be sent as an email attachment to:
Tom Cardamone
SenPrize@gfintegrity.org
The email itself should identify the author, while the attached essay should remain anonymous for blind review.
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The Amartya Sen Essay Prize offers authors an opportunity to present original research on illicit financial flows while competing for a share of $8,000 in prizes and potential publication and presentation opportunities.
Application Link
Submit your essay by email to: SenPrize@gfintegrity.org
