Random forest is in many fields of research a common method for data driven predictions. Within economics and prediction of poverty, random forest is rarely used. Comparing out-of-sample predictions in surveys for same year in six countries shows that random forest is often more accurate than...

Reducing child undernutrition is a key social policy objective of the Ethiopian government. espite substantial reduction over the past decade and a half, child undernutrition is still high. With 48 percent of children stunted, underweight, or wasted, undernutrition remains an important child...

Despite 40 percent of households relying on household enterprises (non-farm enterprises operated by a single individual or with the help of family members) as an income source, household enterprises are usually ignored in low-income Sub-Saharan-African development strategies. Yet analysis of...

Household enterprises-usually one-person-operated tiny informal enterprises-are a rapidly growing source of employment in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in lower-income countries. Household enterprises tend to operate with limited interest or support from governments. This is the case in...

To examine the relationship between patient satisfaction and doctor performance, the authors observed 2,271 interactions between 292 doctors and their patients in 98 clinics and hospitals in Paraguay and conducted an exit-survey with the same patients as they left the clinic. For a subsample of...