Exploratory Research Grant Projects

This project will study whether customs officers affect firms’ bribery costs and trade costs, and how these officers' time horizons and professional relationships operate as mechanisms.

In South Asia, three quarters of ultra-poor households report casual labour as the dominant form of income. In urban areas, short-term construction jobs are found through social connections or by going to a “labour stand”, essentially an intersection where low-skilled labourers wait each morning for employers looking to hire for a day or two.

This project examines the formal and informal institutions for dispute resolution used by microenterprises in Somalia, how access to them affects business outcomes and whether the provision of female-only saving and loan groups can redress gender imbalances in access to dispute resolution.

This project aims to improve our understanding of ‘demand-side factors’ related to why some small firms succeed and scale-up, while others do not.