I measure the impact of trailbridges connecting rural Rwandan villages on remote-sensed developmental and ecological outcomes. Modern trailbridges provide safe and consistent commutes to work, school, markets and healthcare. To identify the causal effect of increasing villagers' mobility, I use variation in bridge construction timing and feasibility to compare villages in similar need of a...
Market days are the pulse of rural, economic and social life in many parts of the world and millions of people rely for their daily sustenance on weekly markets. They are also a complex coordination problem between sellers and buyers that determines who participates where and when in market exchange. I study the role of this long-standing institution in shaping agglomeration and present-day...
Workers in developing countries waste significant time commuting, and gaps in public transit constrain access to productive jobs. In many cities, privately-operated minibuses provide 50–100% of urban transit, at the cost of long wait times and poor personal safety for riders. Should developing-country cities follow the typical recommendation of bus rapid transit or subway investments or rather...
