The Social Consequences of Traditional Religion in Contemporary Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, despite the adoption of Christianity, traditional religious beliefs remain widely held. We examine the social consequences of holding traditional religious beliefs among urban and rural populations in central Africa. Using a variety of lab-in-the-field experiments that randomize partner characteristics, we test whether individuals who believe in traditional religion are treated or viewed […]

Testing Fractional Doses of COVID-19 Vaccines

Testing Fractional Doses of COVID-19 Vaccines   Abstract Testing fractional doses of COVID-19 vaccines_2021-09-14-combined Due to the enormous economic, health, and social costs of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are high expected social returns to investing in parallel in multiple approaches to accelerating vaccination. We argue there are high expected social returns to investigating the scope […]

BREAD Working Paper No. 628, January 2024

Outsourcing Policy and Worker Outcomes: Causal Evidence from a Mexican Ban Alejandro Estefan, Roberto Gerhard, Joseph P. Kaboski, Illenin O. Kondo, and Wei Qian   Abstract A weakening of labor protection policies is often invoked as one cause of observed monopsony power and the decline in labor’s share of income, but little evidence exists on […]

BREAD Working Paper No. 627, December 2023

Long-run Impacts of Forced Labor Migration on Fertility Behaviors: Evidence from Colonial West Africa Pascaline Dupas, Camille Falezan, Marie Christelle Mabeu, and Pauline Rossi   Abstract Is the persistently high fertility in West Africa today rooted in the decades of forced labor migration under colonial rule? We study the case of Burkina Faso, considered the […]

BREAD Working Paper No. 626, December 2023

Digital Information Provision and Behavior Change: Lessons from Six Experiments in East Africa Raissa Fabregas, Michael Kremer, Matthew Lowes, Robert On, Giulia Zane   Abstract Mobile phone-based informational programs are popular worldwide, though there is little consensus on how effective they are at changing behavior. We present causal evidence on the effects of six mobile-based […]