Major Research Grant Projects

Strong export performance is often seen as key to unleashing firm productivity and spurring economic growth, both for the exporting firms themselves and for the broader economy. Given these perceived benefits, middle and low-income country (LMIC) governments commonly implement export promotion policies that aim to alleviate market failures hindering export growth.

In southern coastal Bangladesh, rising freshwater salinity due to climate change threatens over 20 million people with drinking water scarcity, causing health issues like hypertension and preeclampsia, especially among vulnerable populations. Traditional solutions, including centralised water systems and household-level treatments, have proven ineffective, leading to the proposal of a new entrepreneurial approach involving small-scale reverse osmosis (RO) plants.

Women’s work outside the home (WWOH) rate in Pakistan is among the lowest in the world. This is partly due to employer’s having incorrect information and beliefs about women’s ability to carry out work (a demand-side information constraint) and social stigma preventing women and their families from seeking jobs related information (a supply-side information constraint).

This project consists in a field experiment with randomized allocation of air purifiers in small-scale textile firms in Bangladesh to estimate firms’ and households’ willingness to pay for air purifiers.