COVID19 has paralysed the world over the last few months. To limit the spread of the disease, many countries adopted lockdown and social distancing measures. While these measures are seen as vital in containing the disease, they have also precipitated an unprecedented economic crisis. The crisis is hitting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) harder on…
The Impact of COVID19 Pandemic on the Small Firms in Developing Countries
Working Together or Never: Women’s Labour Supply Externalities and the Unemployment Trap
When social networks generate redistributive pressures, labor supply decisions are undertaken in a social context. Individuals who optimize labor supply do so with the understanding that some of their earnings may be subject to taxation within the network; if they are capable of avoiding this tax by not working, then labor supply will be distorted…
The Impact of Subsidized Access to Nurseries and Employment Services on Mothers’ Labour Market Outcomes and Child Development in Egypt
There are three main explanations as to why female labor force participation, globally, remains low: (1) women’s high opportunity cost of time (2) weak labor demand and (3) restrictive gender norms. The research team will test aspects of all three constraints on FLFP in a low-income context in Egypt. They will specifically answer the following…
A Tough Call: Understanding the Impact of Mobile Technology on Women’s Work, Gender Gaps, and Social Norms
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…
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 Labour 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 Labour 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…