Why Do Defaults Affect Behavior? Experimental Evidence from Afghanistan Joshua Blumenstock, Michael Callen, Tarek Ghani Abstract We report on an experiment examining why default options impact behavior. Working with one of the largest private firms in Afghanistan, we randomly assigned each of 949 employees to different variants of a new default savings account. Employees assigned […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 517, June 2017
Margins of Labor Market Adjustment to Trade Rafael Dix-Carneiro, Brian K. Kovak Abstract We use both longitudinal administrative data and cross-sectional household survey data to study the margins of labor market adjustment following Brazil’s early 1990s trade liberalization. We document how workers and regional labor markets adjust to trade-induced changes in local labor demand, examining […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 516, June 2017
Digital Credit: A Snapshot of the Current Landscape and Open Research Questions Eilin Francis, Joshua Blumenstock, Jonathan Robinson Download paper in PDF format
BREAD Working Paper No. 515, July 2017
Grain Today, Gain Tomorrow: Evidence from a Storage Experiment with Savings Clubs in Kenya Shilpa Aggarwal, Eilin Francis, Jonathan Robinson Staple food prices in rural Africa display predictable, sizeable seasonal price changes, from post-harvest troughs to lean season peaks. We experimentally evaluate a group-based grain storage scheme with 132 savings clubs in Kenya. Treatment clubs […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 514, June 2017
Money and Politics: The Effects of Campaign Spending Limits on Political Competition and Incumbency Advantage Eric Avis, Claudio Ferraz, Frederico Finan, Carlos Varjão This paper examines the effects of campaign spending limits on political competition and incumbency advantage. We study a reform in Brazil that imposed limits on campaign spending for mayoral elections. These limits […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 513, March 2017
The Political Economy of Program Enforcement: Evidence from Brazil Fernanda Brollo, Katja Kaufmann, Eliana La Ferrara Abstract Do politicians manipulate the enforcement of conditional welfare programs to influence electoral outcomes? We study the Bolsa Familia Program (BFP) in Brazil, which provides a monthly stipend to poor families conditional on school attendance. Repeated failure to comply […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 512, March 2017
Learning about the Enforcement of Conditional Welfare Programs: Evidence from Brazil Fernanda Brollo, Katja Kaufmann, Eliana La Ferrara Abstract We study the implementation of Bolsa Familia, a program that conditions cash transfers to poor families on children’s school attendance. Using unique administrative data, we analyze how beneficiaries respond to the enforcement of conditionality. Making use […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 511, February 2017
Mexicans in America María Eugenia Genoni, Gabriela Farfan, Luis Rubalcava, Graciela Teruel, Duncan Thomas, Andrea Velasquez Abstract Using data from the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), we establish the feasibility and value-added to science of tracking international migrants in a population-representative longitudinal survey. The MxFLS baseline, conducted in 2002, is representative of all Mexicans living in Mexico. […]
Bread Working Paper No. 510, April 2017
Individuals and Organizations as Sources of State Effectiveness, and Consequences for Policy Design Michael Carlos Best, Jonas Hjort, David Szakonyi Abstract How much of the variation in state effectiveness is due to the individuals and organizations responsible for implementing policy? We investigate this question and its implications for policy design in the context of public […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 509, April 2017
Decentralization and Efficiency of Subsidy Targeting: Evidence from Chiefs in Rural Malawi Pia Basurto, Pascaline Dupas, Jonathan Robinson Abstract Developing countries spend vast sums on subsidies. Beneficiaries are typically se- lected via either a proxy-means test (PMT) or through a decentralized identification process led by local leaders. A decentralized allocation may offer informational ad- vantages, […]