Governments and NGOs are switching to phone- and Internet-based communication technologies to reduce costs and broaden access to public services. However, these technological shifts can backfire if they exacerbate administrative burden in high-need communities. We conducted a randomized...

A key question in development economics is whether nutritional deficiencies generate intergenerational poverty traps by reducing the earnings potential of children born into poverty. To assess the causal influence on human capital of one of the most widespread micronutrient deficiencies,...

A key question in development economics is whether nutritional deficiencies generate intergenerational poverty traps by reducing the earnings potential of children born into poverty. To assess the causal influence on human capital of one of the most widespread micronutrient deficiencies,...

Decentralization reforms represent a trade-off between economics of scale and localization, and the theoretical effects of any such change in administration may be both context dependent and central to the process of development. In this study, I use a combination of difference-in-differences...

The ability of the state to collect tax revenue is a crucial indicator in the process of economic development, yet how tax compliance develops in low-capacity countries remains poorly understood. I find a 6x the cost marginal rate of return to a simple text-based tax encouragement scheme...

Many argue that international norms influence government behavior, and that policies diffuse from country to country, because of idea exchanges within elite networks. However, politicians are not free to follow their foreign counterparts, because domestic constituencies constrain them. This...

How can international organizations shape national welfare states? The answer depends on why national governments comply with international organization mandates. Enforcement theories predict that states’ policy preferences determine implementation, whereas managerial theories attribute...