This paper looks at earnings differentials between (1) members of different ethnic groups and (2) employers’ relatives, unrelated co-ethnics, and other workers, in the Ghanaian manufacturing sector. We find that a significant proportion of the identified earnings differentials between ethnic...

We explore the role of reciprocity in wage determination by combining experimental and survey data. The experiment is similar to Berg, Dickhaut and McCabe`s (1995) and is conducted with Ghanaian manufacturing workers. The survey relates to the same sample workers and the firms within which they...

An economic experiment involving separate sessions in 24 small, tightly knit communities reveals that trust is higher where greater trustworthiness is expected and lower variance in levels of trustworthiness is perceived. A model in which potential trusters behaviour is likened to a risky...

Using two economic experiments I investigate how a sample of rural communities in Zimbabwe approach social dilemmas. When provided with an opportunity to impose sanctions in the context of a public goods game, fourteen out of eighteen communities achieved higher levels of cooperation. In...

In Zimbabwe, people in resettled villages trust each other less than people in non-resettled villages. This does not appear to be due to differences in socially transmitted rules of behaviour. Further, there are good reasons to believe that it is not due to the self-selection of a particular...

We explore the value of the strategy method to field experimentalists. Specifically, we demonstrate that, while the method may lead to reductions in subject understanding, it also generates valuable insights. We played the Third Party Punishment Game and the Generalized Trust Game with Ethiopian...

Are new recruits to the development frontline intrinsically motivated in a way that may prevent them from becoming unproductive or corrupt? And are they likely to remain thus motivated as their careers progress? We seek answers to these questions using both survey and experimental data relating...

Embezzlement of resources is hampering public service delivery throughout the developing world. Research on this issue is hindered by problems of measurement. To overcome these problems we use an economic experiment to investigate the determinants of corrupt behaviour. We focus on three aspects...

Using survey data and a field experiment to measure agents` risk and time preferences, we identify the agent-type that is free to reveal its preferences through decisions about pension system participation. Thus, we show that in Chile the appropriate focus for policy makers interested in the...

Geographical imbalances in the health workforce have been a consistent feature of nearly all health systems, and especially in developing countries. In this paper we investigate the willingness to work in a rural area among final year nursing and medical students in Ethiopia. Analyzing data...