Jon Einar Flatnes is an applied microeconomist whose research is at the intersection of development economics, agricultural finance, and experimental economics. His work uses a combination of theoretical, experimental, and empirical methods to study how informational asymmetries can lead to inefficient outcomes in developing countries. Some of his papers have been focusing on how joint liability group lending contracts can be optimized when interlinked with various features such as financial collateral and insurance. Another area of research studies how index insurance contracts can be optimally designed to minimize basis risk using remote sensing data.