Advancing Gender Equality and Labor Markets in Low-Income Countries

By Achyuta Adhvaryu, Priyanka Sarda, Anant Nyshadam, and Smit Gade

Female labour force participation in India remains low, constrained by restrictive norms, limited mobility, and extensive domestic work. We provide causal evidence on how flexible work-from-home affects women’s labour supply, productivity, and time use in a low-skill handicraft setting. In a randomized controlled trial in Rajasthan, eligible women were trained in crochet and randomly...

By Anaya Dam and Diego Dabed Sitnisky

Sexual harassment remains a widespread challenge in workplaces across the world. Despite being illegal and a violation of human rights, it remains prevalent. A LinkedIn survey among women in corporate firms across India reveals that nearly 70% have experienced at least one form of workplace harassment in the past year. The most common is...

By Munshi Sulaiman, Shaila Ahmed, Sheikh Touhidul Haque, and Marzuk A. N. Hossain

Graduation programs reduce extreme poverty, but rigorous evidence on intergenerational effects remains scarce. This study revisits BRAC’s 2007 Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) randomized trial in Bangladesh with a 2024 follow-up to assess whether parental exposure improves outcomes for children now aged 16–33. We examine whether UPG enhances offspring’s economic mobility, human capital, and family formation—evidence...

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...

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...