I am a development economist: I study economic and social problems in the world’s poorest countries. In my research, I design and test practical solutions to real-world problems, while also shedding light on the economic factors that drive persistent poverty more generally. I do this by combining randomized field experiments with cutting-edge statistical and econometric techniques and economic theory.
Publications
“Scared Straight or Scared to Death? Fatalism in Response to Disease Risks” [PDF] (Forthcoming, The Economic Journal)
“Healthcare Appointments as Commitment Devices” (with Laura Derksen, Natalia Ordaz Reynoso*, and Olivier Sterck) [Final Working Paper] [Slides] The Economic Journal, January 2025.
“Some Children Left Behind: Variation in the Effects of an Educational Intervention” (with Julie Buhl-Wiggers, Juan Sebastián Munoz, Rebecca Thornton, and Jeffrey A. Smith) [Final Working Paper][Data] Journal of Econometrics, July 2024.
“Peers and Motivation at Work: Evidence from a Firm Experiment in Malawi” (with Lasse Brune and Eric Chyn) [Final Working Paper][Online Appendix][Data] Journal of Human Resources, July 2022.
“How Important is Temptation Spending? Maybe Less than We Thought” (with Lasse Brune and Qingxiao Li*) [Final Working Paper] World Bank Economic Review, May 2022.
“Health Knowledge and Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa” (with Anne Fitzpatrick, Sabrin Beg, Laura Derksen, Anne Karing, Adrienne Lucas, Natalia Ordaz Reynoso*, and Munir Squires) [NBER Working Paper No. 28316] [Ungated PubMed Link] Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, October 2021.
“Pay Me Later: Savings Constraints and the Demand for Deferred Payments” (with Lasse Brune and Eric Chyn) [Final Working Paper][Data] American Economic Review, July 2021.
“Making the Grade: The Sensitivity of Education Program Effectiveness to Input Choices and Outcome Measures” (with Rebecca Thornton) [Final Working Paper][Online Appendix][Data] Review of Economics and Statistics, May 2021.
“You Know What I Know: Interviewer Knowledge Effects in Subjective Expectation Elicitation” (with Natalia Ordaz Reynoso*) [Final Working Paper][Online Appendix][Data] Demography, February 2021.
“Income Timing and Liquidity Constraints: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment” (with Lasse Brune) [Final Working Paper] [Online Appendix][Data] Journal of Development Economics, May 2019.
Working Papers
“Striking the Right Balance: Why Standard Balance Tests Over-Reject the Null, and How to Fix It,” with Nada Rostom* and Olivier Sterck. April 2025. (Under Review) IZA DP No. 17217. [PDF][Code to Implement RI-based balance test]
“Navigating Ambiguity: Imprecise Probabilities and the Updating of Disease Risk Beliefs,” with Divya Pandey*. March 2025. (Under Review) [PDF]
“When Given Discretion Teachers Did Not Shirk: Evidence from Remedial Education in Secondary Schools,” with Sabrin Beg, Anne Fitzpatrick, Adrienne M. Lucas, and Khandker Wahedur Rahman*. NBER Working Paper 33242. November 2024. (Under Review)
“Open Defecation is Negatively Associated with COVID-19 Mortality: Evidence from India,” with Audrey Dorélien and Divya Pandey*. October 2024. (Under Review)
“Reading for Life: Lasting Impacts of a Literacy Intervention in Uganda,” with Julie Buhl-Wiggers, Ricardo Montero de la Piedra, Jeffrey Smith, and Rebecca Thornton. January 2024.
“Learning More about Teachers: Estimating Teacher Value-Added and Treatment Effects on Teacher Value-Added in Northern Uganda,” with Julie Buhl-Wiggers*, Jeffrey Smith, and Rebecca Thornton. May 2022. [PDF]
“Program Scale-up and Sustainability,” with Julie Buhl-Wiggers, Jeff Smith, and Rebecca Thornton [Slides]
Work in Progress
Long-run Impacts of the Northern Uganda Literacy Project (with Julie Buhl-Wiggers, Ricardo Montero de la Piedra*, Jeffrey Smith, and Rebecca L. Thornton)
Integrating Educational Technology with Structured Pedagogy to Improve Learning Outcomes for Every Student (with Erik Andersen, Simon Graffy, and Monica Lambon-Quayefio)
Open Defecation and COVID-19 Mortality (with Audrey Dorélien and Divya Pandey*)
The Welfare Effects of Recipient Control over the Timing of Cash Transfers (with Francis Annan, Francis Fang, and Naureen Karachiwalla)
Improving Air Quality in Schools (with Marc Bellemare and Noah Wexler*)
A Meta-Analysis of Heterogeneity in Education Program Impacts (with Julie Buhl-Wiggers, Hanna Han, Juan S. Muñoz, Jeffrey Smith, and Rebecca L. Thornton)
Digital Savings Groups in Egypt (with Alfredo Burlando, Reham Rizk, and Sarah Wahby*)
*student coauthor
Permanent Working Papers
“‘Rational Fatalism’: Non-Monotonic Choices in Response to Risks.” Working Group in African Political Economy (WGAPE), University of California, Berkeley, May 2012. [PDF][Wayback Machine Archive of WGAPE Page]