Advancing Gender Equality and Labor Markets in Low-Income Countries

A Natural Field Experiment in a Tax Amnesty Context

By Gayline Vuluku, Erich Kirchler, and Christian Bauer

This study evaluates the impact of behavioural interventions on the uptake and payment of tax arrears through an amnesty program in Kenya. Using a randomised controlled trial, 43,666 tax delinquents from Nairobi region were evaluated. Taxpayers were assigned to receive either a neutral informational email, one of three behavioural messages on deterrence, social norms,...

Durable Impacts that Extend Across Generations

By Erica Field, Rachel Glennerster, Nina Caroline Buchmann, and Sakib Mahmood

Child marriage remains pervasive in Bangladesh and many low-income settings, undermining girls’ education, reducing their economic participation, and constraining opportunities for their children. Policymakers have invested heavily in empowerment programs and incentives to delay marriage, yet little is known about whether these interventions generate lasting economic gains. This project answers that question through a...

Female Employment does not Reduce Fertility

By Andreas Kotsadam, Janneke Pieters, and Espen Villanger

Understanding how women’s access to formal employment shapes fertility is central to debates on demographic change and economic development. A longstanding assumption in both academic and policy circles is that expanding women’s work opportunities leads to fertility decline. This view draws on broad historical correlations between female labor force participation and falling birth rates....

By Kelvin Mulungu, Nicholas Kilimani, and Gebeyehu Manie Fetene

In rural Africa, agriculture employs the majority of the workforce and remains largely rainfed. The timing of pregnancy and child-birth relative to agricultural calendar, especially for the main crop, has potential implications for both farm productivity and maternal health. Pregnancy (especially in the third trimester) and the immediate postpartum period substantially reduce women’s capacity...

By Emily Beam, Anne Fitzpatrick, and Maira Emy Reimão

High-quality daycare has the potential to be a “triple-win”: fostering child development, increasing parental income, and increasing daycare profits in a mostly female workforce. However, in many low- and middle-income countries, the daycare industry is largely unregulated. Quality is often low especially in poor communities—and raises child safety and health concerns. Low quality may...