Public Economics
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Market power and in-kind transfers: Evidence from Mexico
In settings with market power, providing goods directly can generate larger consumer surplus gains than cash and vouchers because of price effects
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Getting bang for your buck on education spending: Evidence from Tanzania
Interventions aimed at alleviating multiple constraints are often needed to achieve the desired impact
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Training effective altruism: Experimental evidence from Pakistan
An experiment in Pakistan finds that training decision makers in the benefits of empathy cultivates prosocial behaviour in the lab and the field
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How cash transfers can have negative impact on non-beneficiaries: Evidence from Philippines
Cash transfers raised food prices and increased stunting among children from ineligible households in remote and poor areas
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How developing countries can boost their property tax revenues: Evidence from Mexico City
Increasing property taxes can boost revenues for developing countries, but enforcement may threaten the welfare of liquidity-constrained households
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Raising money for the state: Lessons on reducing tax evasion from Chile and Ecuador
Value-added tax (VAT) can facilitate tax enforcement by generating paper trails on transactions between firms
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Implementing poverty-reduction interventions at scale: Challenges and considerations
Programmes aimed at alleviating poverty must be designed in cost-effective ways before they can be used by government as viable public policy at scale
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In-kind transfers as insurance: Evidence from India
While academics and policymakers prefer unconditional cash transfer to the poor, they value in-kind transfers that protect against price fluctuations
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High informal employment and disincentives: The anatomy of behavioural responses to social assistance in Uruguay
CCT programmes in developing countries may generate disincentives to registered employment, but the efficiency consequences can be relatively small