| 1. |
- Alem, Yonas, 1974, et al.
(author)
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Learning from Unincentivized and Incentivized Communication: A Randomized Controlled Trial in India
- 2022
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In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0013-0079 .- 1539-2988. ; 71:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Interactions among peers of the same social network play significant roles in facilitating the adoption and diffusion of modern technologies in poor communities. We conduct a large-scale randomized controlled trial in rural India to identify the impact of information from friends on willingness to pay (WTP) for high-quality and multipurpose solar lanterns. We offered solar lanterns to seed households from 200 nonelectrified villages and randomly assigned three of their friends to two communication treatments (unincentivized and incentivized) that led to different exposures to their seed friend. We also introduce a second treatment to investigate whether the seed's gender impacts the magnitude of peer effects. We show that unincentivized communication increases WTP for solar lanterns by 90% and incentivized communication by 145%, but gender does not seem to matter. We also show that learning from others is the mechanism that drives the increase in WTP. Our findings have significant implications for policies that aim at promoting the diffusion of new technologies in developing countries.
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| 2. |
- Baland, J. M., et al.
(author)
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Socially Disadvantaged Groups and Microfinance in India
- 2019
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In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0013-0079 .- 1539-2988. ; 67:3, s. 537-569
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- About two-thirds of microfinance clients in India are reported to be in self-help groups (SHGs). We study the survival of members and groups and their differential access to credit using a census of SHGs created between 1998 and 2006 in 386 villages in eastern India. Households without land and those from disadvantaged castes exhibit higher attrition rates and smaller loans, but the main predictor of differential outcomes is education. Members with formal education receive larger loans and are more likely to remain a group member. Groups with no such members are also four times more likely to become inactive.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(author)
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Labor Market Integration in Urban Ethiopia, 1994-2004
- 2013
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In: Economic development and cultural change. - 0013-0079. ; 61:4, s. 889-931
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An analysis of panel data on individuals in a random selection of urban households in Ethiopia reveals large, sustained, and unexplained earnings gaps between public and private and formal and informal sectors over 1994–2004. At the same time, we find, first, that the rate of mobility increased in the two pairs of sectors. Sample transitions rates grew across survey waves, while state dependence in sector choice decreased. Second, the correlation between sector choice and earnings gaps increased over the same period. In particular, the correlation between comparative earnings and selection into the informal sector was high throughout the survey decade and increased in magnitude over the second half of the period. These results suggest that Ethiopia’s urban labor markets might be integrating.
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| 5. |
- Chegere, M. J., et al.
(author)
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The Effects of Storage Technology and Training on Postharvest Losses, Practices, and Sales: Evidence from Small-Scale Farms in Tanzania
- 2022
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In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0013-0079 .- 1539-2988. ; 70:2, s. 729-761
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We analyze the impact of a new storage technology and training on postharvest losses, sales and the timing of sales, farmgate prices, maize quality, and storage protection costs among small-scale maize farmers in rural Tanzania. The analysis is based on data collected by means of a randomized controlled trial in which farmers were randomized into one of three groups: a control group and two treatment groups. Farmers in the first treatment group received training on postharvest management practices, and farmers in the second treatment group were provided with hermetic (airtight) bags for storing maize as well as the training administered to the first treatment group. Both interventions had a significant effect in reducing storage losses, and the intervention with hermetic bags improved the quality of maize grain, raised the likelihood of selling maize, increased the farmgate price of maize, enabled farmers to shift some of their sales to the lean season, and reduced the cost of storage protection. Both interventions are economically feasible.
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| 6. |
- Dimova, Ralitza, et al.
(author)
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Off-farm labor supply and correlated shocks: New theoretical insights and evidence from Malawi
- 2015
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In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0013-0079 .- 1539-2988. ; 63, s. 361-391
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- New theoretical insights and evidence from Malawi provide evidence of off- farm labor supply and correlated shocks. A large part of the rural landscape of developing countries is dominated by subsistence farmers, operating on small or marginal plots of land. They take recourse to a number of coping strategies to protect themselves from various risks in the absence of insurance markets. Some engage in specialization that involves adoption of production techniques that are resistant to pests, droughts, and other environmental risk factors. Others resort to consumption smoothing via diversification, some of which involves combining farm and off-farm activities within the same household.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Gustafsson, Björn, 1948, et al.
(author)
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How and Why the Gender Pension Gap in Urban China Decreased Between 1988 and 2018.
- 2024
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In: Economic development and cultural change. - 0013-0079.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gender gaps in the labor market, in terms of both labor force participation and wages, have increased in urban China since the 1990s. The rights provided by, and the amount of pensions in urban China are determined based on labor force participation and wages. However, this study shows that despite increased gender differences in the urban labor market, the average gender pension gap in China decreased, and did not increase between 1988 and 2018. We describe the evolution of fragmented pension systems in urban China using a quantitative analysis. For the latter, we distinguish between the rates of pension coverage and the average amounts of benefits. A birth cohort analysis was also conducted to better understand why the gender pension gap changed. For the purpose of this study, we used data from the China Household Income Survey, focusing on individuals aged 60 years and older to show how, during the period studied, changes in China’s pension system benefited women more than men.
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| 9. |
- Johansson, Anders, et al.
(author)
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CEO Incentives in Chinese State-Controlled Firms
- 2017
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In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. - : University of Chicago Press. - 0013-0079 .- 1539-2988. ; 65:2, s. 223-264
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper investigates CEO incentives in Chinese state-controlled firms. We find that firm performance has a positive effect on CEO compensation. We also find that firm performance is positively associated with CEO promotion and negatively associated with CEO turnover. CEOs for state-controlled firms thus face significant incentives, not only in monetary form, but also in terms of career prospects. These results suggest that the CEO labor market in the Chinese state sector exhibits characteristics similar to those of managerial labor markets in developed countries, at least during our sample period. Moreover, we show that local institutions have a significant impact on the relationship between CEO incentives and firm performance, with performance having a larger effect on CEO compensation, promotion and turnover in regions characterized by stronger institutions. Overall, our results demonstrate that firm performance is associated with CEO incentives also for state-controlled firms in China, suggesting that there is a functioning labor market for top managers in the Chinese state sector.
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| 10. |
- La Ferrara, Eliana, et al.
(author)
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Understanding Child Sex Trafficking Using Victim-Level Data
- 2024
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In: Economic Development and Cultural Change. - : University of Chicago Press. - 1539-2988 .- 0013-0079.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Quantitative research on human trafficking is scant due to lack of data. This study makes use of a unique survey we collected on former victims of trafficking and vulnerable women and girls in the Philippines. We start by exploring the correlates of trafficking and show that household composition (in particular the presence of older sisters) and plausibly exogenous measures of health and economic shocks predict the likelihood of being tracked. We then study the effects of trafficking on victims' intertemporal and risk preferences using entropy balancing. We find that trafficking victims are not differentially patient, but they are more risk-loving. Our novel data and findings are pertinent to the design of policies intending to prevent trafficking and reintegrate victims.
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