As digital technology becomes an ever-growing part of economic life in low-income countries, researchers and policymakers face a moment of both opportunity and risk: technologies like smartphones and mobile internet could connect millions of marginalized women and girls to the modern economy, generating new opportunities for employment and human capital accumulation. However, there is a…
A Tough Call: Understanding the Impact of Mobile Technology on Women’s Work, Gender Gaps, and Social Norms
Can Temporary Financial Incentives for Female Industrial Workers Lead to Long-Term Retention and a Better Allocation of Talent?
In this project, the research team study whether worker turnover contributes to the misallocation of talent in low-income countries. To this end, they will experimentally evaluate the impacts of offering financial incentives for worker retention in the context of a female-dominated occupation in the nascent garment manufacturing industry in Ethiopia. Our main hypothesis is that…
The Roles of Information and Search Frictions in Determining Working Conditions in Bangladesh’s Apparel Sector
The emergence of low-skill manufacturing sectors in developing countries can increase labor market opportunities and provide other economics benefits for women (Heath and Mobarak, 2015; Tanaka, 2017). But in light of the poor conditions that characterize many low-skill manufacturing sectors, some researchers have questioned whether manufacturing jobs are actually better for workers than their alternatives….
Whistleblowing and Worker Wellbeing: Evidence from Bangladesh’s Garments Sector
In many developing countries, the private sector lacks monitoring systems to provide firms with incentives for good behavior. In part, this problem is due to weak, sometimes corrupt state institutions (Dal Bó and Finan, 2016). In part, it may also be due to principal-agent problems within the firm and to limited organizational capacity (Bloom et…
Differential Earnings, Household Division of Labour and Fertility Choices: An Application of the “Doing Gender” Hypothesis in Ghana
The project aims to examine the evidence for the “Doing Gender” hypothesis in Ghana. We examine whether greater earnings by Ghanaian women is associated with increased household bargaining power, proxied by the division of housework between a woman and her husband. The study is relevant as the issue of the division of domestic work has…
Overcoming Constraints to Female Labor Force Entry
We propose a randomised controlled trial to test the impact of two low-cost interventions to overcome psychological and information constraints to female labor force participation (FLFP). Our research questions are, does (i) motivating female students and (ii) providing information about the job market, promote female labor force entry, as measured by their likelihood of applying…
Seasonal Migration and Agricultural Labor Markets in Nepal
In rural agrarian economies, the period between planting and harvest is often a “lean season” when labor demand and wages fall, and the price of staples rise. The landless poor reliant on agricultural work on others’ farms are especially hard hit, and many millions of laborers and their families worldwide suffer from seasonal hunger. This…
Entrepreneurship Education and Teacher Training in Rwanda
Youth account for 60% of Africa’s unemployed. In Rwanda, 72% of employed youth work for family firms or are self-employed (African Economic Outlook 2016). These outcomes suggest that schools are failing to develop the skills required to enter formal sector jobs or launch and grow small firms. In response, Rwanda is one of ten African…
Relaxing Seasonal Constraints to Improve Labor Productivity
Despite increased investment and international competition in agriculture, small-scale farming continues to be the most common economic activity in many developing countries. In Zambia, 60% of the population lives in rural areas, where 78% of the population were employed in agriculture in 2012 (Zambia Labor Force Survey, 2012). Rainfall patterns in Zambia allow for only…
Urban Density and Labour Markets
Many of the world‘s poorest people live and work in dense informal settlements in Africa’s growing megacities. These communities have both positives and negatives. On one side, settlements, often located in central areas, provide workers with access to geographically proximate jobs, dense informational and social networks, and a large demand base for entrepreneurial ventures. Density…