Workers have the right to take up any job offer in their country of citizenship but not to rent out that right. This paper shows that relaxing this restriction using a two-sided competitive market in work permits can provide a basic income guarantee for workers in migration-destination...

The authors use recent data from the 2006 National Family Health Survey of India to explore the relationship between religion and demographic behavior. They find that fertility and mortality vary not only between religious groups, but also across caste groups. These groups also differ with...

This paper analyzes the rise and demise of piracy off the coast of Somalia to highlight the interplay between public and private crime protection measures. Using unique data on attacks, hijacks, and ransoms, the authors estimate a structural model of Somali piracy to calculate the elasticity of...

The authors use recent data from the 2006 National Family Health Survey of India to explore the relationship between religion and demographic behavior. They find that fertility and mortality vary not only between religious groups, but also across caste groups. These groups also differ with...

Many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are undergoing a profound transformation. From Bahrain to Yemen, from Tunisia to Egypt, popular movements are calling for political change and a more inclusive development path that will provide ordinary citizens with greater...

We identify birth wantedness as a source of better child outcomes. In Vietnam, the year of birth is widely believed to determine success. As a result, cohorts born in auspicious years are 12 percent larger. Comparing siblings with one another, those of auspicious cohorts are found to have two...

We analyze theoretically and empirically the impact of comparative advantage in international trade on fertility. We build a model in which industries differ in the extent to which they use female relative to male labor, and countries are characterized by Ricardian comparative advantage in...

Are wanted and unwanted children treated equally by their parents? To address this question, the authors rely on the observation that, according to Vietnamese astrology, dates of birth are believed to be determinants of success, luck, character, and good match between individuals. They then...

The goal of global scaling up handwashing is to reduce the risk of diarrhea and therefore increase household productivity by stimulating and sustaining the behavior of handwashing with soap at critical times in the lives of 5.4 million people in Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, and Vietnam, where the...