This paper develops a theory to illustrate the relationship between the profitability of firms producing along the value chain and the sequential production stages. Using a bilateral monopoly framework, it interrogates the validity of the U-shaped curve (often called the “smile curve”) regarding the firm-level division of the gains in the global supply chains. In order to resolve the potential...
Voter backlash can pose an important political economy barrier to the public and political acceptability of phasing out fossil fuels. We investigate the case of Colombia, a country heavily dependent on coal exports, which recently announced a complete phasing out of fossil fuels. Using a novel and unique data set, we analyze how municipality-level changes in extracted coal and associated...
We estimate the causal effect of access to clean water sources on educational outcomes in Indonesia. Using the longitudinal Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) panel dataset, which follows the same individuals from 1993 to 2014, and applying household
fixed effects allows us to identify the causal effect of access to clean water at different stages of childhood on the educational performance...
Can voters punish incompetent rulers under widespread misinformation? We address this question through the lens of healthcare access during the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil. Despite a massive misinformation campaign in an already polarized society, Bolsonaro lost the elections in 2022. We argue that real-world information that contradicts misleading narratives counteracts electoral biases...
Current food production systems all over the world face numerous challenges. Particularly smallholder farming in sub-Saharan Africa is in substantial need of sustainable solutions. Yet, the adoption of already existing sustainable agricultural practices such as agroforestry often re-mains low. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of smallholders’ decision-making pro-cesses for...
This paper studies the effects of sovereign debt inflows on the allocation of subnational grants by the central government. We focus on a natural experiment made available by the unanticipated inclusion of South Africa into the Citigroup World Government Bond Index (WGBI) -one of the major international sovereign debt indices- leading to an increase in capital inflows in the country. Using...
We present a field experiment in Burkina Faso that tests a novel, low-cost approach to promoting citizen engagement and political accountability in local governance: Inviting randomly selected citizens to observe local council meetings. Selected citizens received a personal invitation from the mayor to observe a local council meeting, ask questions, and share their observations with their...
We examine the relationship between historical climate variability and horizontal trust in Sub-Saharan Africa, using two ethnic panels derived from Afrobarometer survey data. In contrast to findings from other continents, our study finds limited evidence of the impact of past climate variability on current levels of trust in Sub-Saharan Africa. Other geographic factors, and in particular, past...
This study investigates the impact of climate change on cognitive load and adaptation to climate change, e.g. investments or migration intentions, among rural populations in Senegal. Drawing on a sample of 4,755 men aged 18-40 across 145 villages, we employ interventions to induce cognitive load through priming on climate and financial uncertainties. Our findings suggest nuanced effects, with...
The entry into puberty exposes female African adolescents to a variety of reproductive and socioeconomic risks. This paper studies the consequences of early menarche in a sample of adolescent women across seven sub-Saharan African countries. Exploiting random variation in the timing of the menarche, we find that women who experience menarche earlier than others also experience earlier sexual...
Climate change heightens the likelihood of co-occurring natural hazards. This paper assesses the impact of correlated hazard events on net migration in Sub-Saharan Africa at a 10x10km grid level. Utilizing a dynamic difference-in-difference model, the study reveals a temporary decrease in net migration by approximately 0.8 persons per 1000 people, balanced out three years later by an...
Anticipatory humanitarian assistance is a novel instrument to help vulnerable households cope with climate shocks. While economists have posited that ex-post disaster aid decreases households’ investment in climate adaptation, the effect of anticipatory assistance is unknown. This paper analyses the effect of anticipatory assistance on demand for index insurance by evaluating a randomized...
This paper provides a comparative analysis of the impact of forced displacement on the labor market for hosts in four economies. Considering four key labor market outcomes, we seek to describe both aggregate effects and impacts on important groups of workers. The intention is to facilitate qualitative comparisons of impacts across economies with different economic and policy characteristics....
Health care decisions are sometimes a matter of life and death, but also their financial consequences can be disastrous for many households around the world. While it is easy to imagine how the fear of making an expensive mistake may deter particularly poor households from making otherwise sensible health care choices, there is almost no scientific evidence on the importance and joint role of...
Abstract
This article explores the impacts of agricultural crime victimization, encompassing theft and vandalism of crops and livestock, on food security of smallholder farming households. We use a distinctive panel dataset from rural Tanzania collected in 2016, 2018, and 2021 and measure different dimensions of food security using household caloric intake, Food Consumption Score (FCS),...
This study examines the short-term effects of a school leadership professional development program (SLPDP) that was implemented in Rwanda from 2018 to 2019. The program’s objective was to improve the skills of school headteachers in leadership, management, and teacher support. The underlying Theory of Change (ToC) is that effective school leadership practices improve the school environment and...
This paper studies the security implications of internal displacement shocks for host communities. It focuses on changes in wealth within host communities induced by the inflow of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a potential mechanism that triggers local conflicts. The sudden insurgency of the jihadist terrorist organization Boko Haram, which led to the internal displacement of over 2.5...
How does mobile coverage affect the trajectories of structural labor market de-
velopment? This study investigates the expansion of early mobile connections em-
ploying IPUMS International harmonized census data at the sub-national level.
Starting from a global sample the study focuses on a set of 20 developing countries
following 7020 sub-national units appearing two times in the period...
This study sheds light on households' water sources use practices and examines the factors influencing their decisions regarding water supply in a context of abundant and diverse water resources. To this end, we exploit an original and unique panel dataset that combines household survey data with geolocated information on all water sources available to each household across ten Kinshasa...
Voluntary sustainability standards promise to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and at the same time conserve on-farm ecosystem health and biodiversity. However, it is still unclear whether sustainability standards can achieve these goals because the empirical literature has mainly focused on assessing their effects on single sustainability dimensions. Therefore, in this study, we...
Access to a healthy diet is a fundamental human right, yet a significant portion of the global population faces barriers to realizing this right. Conventional poverty metrics are designed to adequately capture caloric needs but they are inadequate for capturing other essential nutritional requirements. We propose national poverty lines based on the cost of a healthy diet and explore their key...
It is widely acknowledged that for efficient progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), their interlinkages have to be taken into account. The global Multidimensional Poverty Index is based on ten deprivations indicators each of which is aligned with specific SDGs, and the overlap of these deprivations already figures prominently in the way poverty is measured by this index,...
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role for inclusive economic development, but their growth is often hampered by lacking access to finance. This paper explores whether capital markets can be harnessed to foster SME finance. Given the negligible usage of market-based financing by SMEs, it is analyzed to what extent capital market development indirectly alleviates SMEs’...
