Modelling market frictions in LICs using newly available data

Trade Credit Information Sharing among SMEs in Kenya

Through a field experiment, this project tries to assess whether providing the infrastructure for information sharing among lenders and borrowers improves credit market efficiency, between SMEs and their suppliers in Kenya.

Research Project
6 Aug 2015

Optimizing network referrals to identify and recruit creditworthy entrepreneurs

This project aims to shed light on whether referrals programs focused around ‘central’ village individuals could improve the loan selection mechanisms, through referrals to microfinance initiatives.

Research Project
6 Aug 2015

Bandits or States? Armed Group Expropriation Strategies and the Economy: Evidence from Eastern Congo

Building on previous exploratory work, this study utilizes data from conflict-affected Eastern Congo to examine the formation of ‘states’ by armed groups, their taxation activities, and policies aimed at reducing their state capacity. 

Research Project
29 Jun 2015

Finance and Networks in China

Providing much-needed experimental evidence on the impacts of alleviating growth frictions to SMEs, this project evaluates the effects of programs designed to improve access to loans and to expand business networks. 

Research Project
29 Jun 2015

The Effects of Land Mines on Development and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Mozambique

A combination of geographical data on post-conflict land mines and micro-level economic data allows for the quantification of the long-run effects of land mines on economic performance and development of conflict-affected states such as Mozambique. 

Research Project
1 Jun 2015

Understanding the Employment Preferences of Low-Skilled Labor in India

This project attempts to capture candidates’ backgrounds, career aspirations, and post-training decisions to help explain India’s vocational training field and pave the way for further investigation into the field of vocational training. 

Research Project
29 May 2015

The industrial organisation of taxation: Evidence from within the police administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This project seeks to collect a novel, in-depth dataset on corruption amongst police officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Research Project
1 May 2015

The Returns to Capital for SMEs: Evidence from India

This project will measure the extent of credit constraints in the SME sector in India while simultaneously evaluating a private-sector led project that provides these firms with better access to credit. 

Research Project
28 Apr 2015

Contractual Flexibility, Firm Growth, and Information Asymmetries in Microfinance: Experimental Evidence from Bangladesh (Stage Two)

A randomized pilot experiment of BRAC Microfinance’s new flexible loan contract provides information on credit take-up, the pool of borrowers, and the potential for moral hazard abatement among microfinance borrowers. 

Research Project
25 Feb 2015

Overcoming Information Barriers to Firms Hiring Young, Inexperienced Work-Seekers

As a lack of information on worker and jobseeker skills may contribute to low firm productivity, this study aims to directly measure the consequences of improving information to employers about potential workers through twin randomized controlled trials. 

Research Project
25 Feb 2015

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