Our newest publications
Returns to Productive Assets for Workers: Evidence from a Mobility Experiment in an Indian Firm
By Shreya Sarkar
In developed and developing economies, millions of workers must self-finance lumpy investment that makes their labour productive. When workers cannot afford productive assets key for their jobs, both aggregate output and earnings remain sub-optimal. I partner with a large platform firm in India to study how subsidizing productive capital for workers at a firm...
The Long-Term Impact of Antidepressant Pharmacotherapy in India
By Daniel Bennett and Manuela Angelucci
Depression is a leading cause of disability and especially prevalent among low-income populations, where it may also perpetuate poverty. Despite the availability of effective treatments like anti-depressants, most people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) do not receive care, due to provider scarcity, stigma, and low awareness. Antidepressants are potentially scalable in LMICs, but...
The Qualification of the Workforce in Cameroon: Social Capital, a Hindrance or a Lever?
By Astride Claudel NJIEPUE NOUFFEUSSIE, Cosmas Bernard MEKA’A, Gaëlle Tatiana Timba, and Fabrice Nzepang
Although the analysis of the effects of social capital on the labour market has been the subject of extensive theoretical and empirical literature, very few studies have focused on qualification in general and on worker qualification in particular. In order to fill this gap, the aim of this study is to analyze the effects...
Firm Culture: How Social Norms Affect Gender Bias in Hiring in Online Labor Markets
By Belinda Archibong, Francis Annan, Oyebola Okunogbe, Anja Benshaul-Tolonen, and Ifeatu Oliobi
Social norms that shape expectations of women’s roles within groups can cause gender inequality in employment to persist, even in high information environments. We test this hypothesis using new data from the largest online job platform in Nigeria. We find significant differences in the hiring outcomes of female applicants by hiring manager co-ethnicity. Male...
Urban Density and Labour Markets: Evaluating Slum Redevelopment in Addis Ababa
By Gharad Bryan, Simon Franklin, and Girum Abebe
A future of sustainable development will rely on successful management of cities in the Global South. Urbanization is predicted to increase rapidly, and well-run cities can be a force for growth and a place to weather climate change, but poorly governed cities might become havens for crowding, congestion, crime and violence. A key policy...
