Research

Applies econometric, game-theoretic, and experimental methods to understanding issues of poverty, development, and social change with a particular focus on the evaluation of development policy and programs in poor countries.

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS AND WORKING PAPERS:

Development Impacts

“Mortality from Nestlé's Marketing of Infant Formula in Low and Middle-Income Countries" (with Jesse Anttila-Hughes, Paul Gertler, Lia Fernald, Eleanor Tsai, and Patrick Krause).  Presented at UC Berkeley and UC Davis (by Anttila-Hughes), Princeton University, the 2017 International Economic Association Meetings in Mexico City, and the University of California at Berkeley Haas Business School (by Gertler), and Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Covenant College, University of New Mexico, Notre Dame, Montana Stata University, University of California at Santa Cruz, and the University of Minnesota (by Wydick). National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper #w24452. Updated version, January 2024.  Media: VoxDev, New York Times, Mother Jones.

“All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Evidence from the Philippines" (with Jeff Bloem, IFPRI and CEIDS).  Presented by Wydick at the University of Washington, May 2019 and by Bloem at the University of Minnesota and the AAEA meetings in Atlanta, and the AEA meetings in San Diego, 2020.  Economic Development and Cultural Change (2023), volume 71, number 2, January. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/715502. 

“The Impact of Cleft Lip/Palate and Surgical Intervention on Adolescent Life Outcomes: Evidence from Operation Smile in India"  with Mustafa Zahid, Sam Manning, Jeremiah Maller, Kira Evsanaa, Susann Skjoldhorne, Matthew Bloom, Abhishek Das, and Gaurav Deshpande.  Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) Working Paper Series No. 122, University of California, Berkeley.  Presented at the University of Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the University of San Francisco, Pacific Conference for Development Economics (PACDEV 2022) by Zahid.  Annals of Global Health (January 2022) 88(1): 25, 1-16 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3679.

“When Are Cash Transfers Transformative?" in Development, Distribution, and Markets (festschrift in honor of Pranab Bardhan), edited by Kaushik Basu, Eric Verhoogen, Sudipto Mundle, Maitreesh Ghatak, and Kenneth Kletzer, Oxford University Press (2021).   Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) Working Paper Working Paper Series, No. 069, University of California, Berkeley.  Presented at the virtual 2021 ASSA meetings session, Twenty Years On: Cash Transfers and Their Future.   

“Shoeing the Children: The Impact of TOMS Shoes in Rural El Salvador" (with Elizabeth Katz, Flor Calvo, Felipe Gutierrez, and Brendan Janet). World Bank Economic Review (2018), vol. 32, no.3, pp.727-51.  Also published as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper #WPS7822.  Media: The Economist, Inc., Racked, Vox.

“Does Child Sponsorship Pay Off in Adulthood?  An International Study of Impacts on Income and Wealth" (with Paul Glewwe-University of Minnesota and Laine Rutledge-University of Washington).  Presented at the University of Notre Dame, Kellogg Institute for International Studies (Wydick), April 24, 2014. World Bank Economic Review (2017), vol. 31 no.2, pp. 434-458. Also available as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper #7653. Media: National Affairs, World Bank Blog: Let's Talk Development, WhyDev.

“Wheels of Fortune: The Economic Impact of Wheelchair Provision in Ethiopia" (with Justin Grider).  Based on Grider's thesis, winner of 2014 International New Economic Talent Competition and Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, May 2014. Journal of Development Effectiveness (February 2016), vol. 8, no.1, pp. 44-66.  Media: Christianity Today.  

"Got Milk? The Impact of Heifer International's Livestock Donation Program in Rwanda on Nutritional Outcomes" (with Christopher Barrett, Sarah Pedersen, Svetlana Pimkina, and Rosemary Rawlins), Food Policy (February 2014) vol.44, no.1 pp.202-213.  Media: Humanosphere, Foreign Affairs.

“Do In-Kind Transfers Damage Local Markets? The Case of TOMS Shoe Donations in El Salvador" (with Elizabeth Katz and Brendan Janet), Journal of Development Effectiveness (Fall 2014) vol. 6, no.3 pp.249-267. Media: The Economist.

"Does International Child Sponsorship Work? A Six-Country Study of Impacts on Adult Life Outcomes" (with Paul Glewwe-University of Minnesota and Laine Rutledge-University of Washington).  Prepared for presentation at the UC Berkeley Development Seminar, October 4, 2009, Cornell University Conference on Institutions, Behavior, and the Escape from Persistent Poverty, November 16-17, 2009, Stanford University Development Lunch, April 15, 2010, University of Southern California Development Economics Seminar, October 5, 2010, Georgia Institute of Technology, October 15, 2010, USF Economics Seminar, November 4, 2010, ACCORD Faith-based Development Practitioner Conference, Fort Meyers, FL, November 19, 2010, UC Davis departmental seminar in Agricultural and Resource Economics, January 10, 2011, Pacific Conference for Development Economics, March 2011.  Journal of Political Economy (April 2013), vol. 121, no.2, pp.393-426.  Media: BBC, USA Today, Huffington Post, and elsewhere.

“Keeping the Doctor Away: Experimental Evidence on Investment in Preventative Health Products" (with Jon Robinson-UC Santa Cruz, Jennifer Meredith-University of Washington, and Sarah Walker-University of Wisconsin), BREAD working paper #336, National Bureau of Economic Research working paper no. 19312  Journal of Development Economics (November 2013), vol. 105, pp.196-210.

“Health and Environmental Effects from the Introduction of High-Technology Wood-Burning Stoves: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Western Guatemala” (with Kent Moriarty and Dan Ludwinski) Environment, Development and Sustainability (August 2011), vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 657–676.

Economics of Hope, Aspirations, and Identity

"The Health Costs of Political Identity: Evidence from the U.S. During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (with Sahiba Chopra, UC Berkeley).  CEGA Working Paper Series No. WPS-190. Center for Effective Global Action, University of California at Berkeley. doi.org/10.26085/C3XW2C. November 2023.  (Forthcoming: Politics, Groups, and Identities). 

"Identifying Psychological Trauma Among Syrian Refugee Children for Early Intervention: Analyzing Digitized Drawings Using Machine Learning" (with Sarah Baird, Jennifer Muz, Rafael Panlilio, and Stephanie Smith). CEGA Working Paper Series No. WPS-125.  Center for Effective Global Action, University of California, Berkeley. doi.org/10.26085/C3WC7S.  Presented by Sarah Baird January 2020 at the Conference on Forced Displacement, Copenhagen, Denmark and by Wydick at the CEGA Psychology & Development Conference, (vol.156, 102822, Journal of Development Economics, May 2022.)

"Aspirational Hope, Dairy Farming Practices, and Milk Production: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Bolivia" (with Francesco Checchi, Robert Lensink, and Adriana Garcia). June 2022 (Forthcoming, World Development). 

"Hope and Poverty in Development Economics: Emerging Insights and Frontiers" with Travis Lybbert, forthcoming in The Oxford Compendium of Hope (Anthony Scioli and Steven van den Heuvel, eds.)  CEGA Working Paper Series No. WPS-211, July 2022.

"Can Hope Elevate Microfinance? Evidence from Oaxaca, Mexico"  (with Irvin Rojas and Travis Lybbert) Presented by Rojas at the Pacific Conference for Development Economics March 2018, by Lybbert at the Northeast Universities Development Conference (NEUDC) Appendix.  Oxford Economic Papers (January 2022), vol. 74, no. 1 pp. 236-64.

"Developing Educational and Vocational Aspirations through International Child Sponsorship: Evidence from Kenya, Indonesia, and Mexico"  (with Phillip Ross-Boston University), Paul Glewwe-University of Minnesota, and Daniel Prudencio-Rice University. Presented at the Young Lives Conference (Wydick), Oxford, UK July 2013, the ASREG (Associated Study for Religion, Economics, and Culture) meetings (Glewwe) March 2014, the University of Notre Dame (Wydick) October 2014, NEUDC at Boston University (Ross) November 2014, ACE Meetings at Gordon College (Wydick) January 2015, the January 2015 AEA meetings (Ross), and the University of Washington (Glewwe) March 2015. World Development (April 2021), vol. 140, no. 4, pp. 157-178.

"Exploring Religious Belief, Hope, and Transition out of Poverty in Oaxaca Mexico" (with Travis Lybbert and Robert Dowd), in Paolo Carozza and Clemens Sedmak (editors) The Practice of Human Development and Dignity (2020), University of Notre Dame Press. 

“Raising Achievement Among Microentrepreneurs: An Experiment Testing Goals, Incentives, and Support Groups in Medellin, Colombia" (with Alessandra Cassar, Paulina Aguinaga, Jennifer Graham, and Lauren Skora).  Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (May 2019), vol. 161, no. 5, pp.79-97.

“Hope as Aspirations, Agency, and Pathways: Poverty Dynamics and Microfinance in Oaxaca, Mexico" (with Travis Lybbert) Presented at the University of California at Berkeley Development Seminar December 2015, the Pacific Conference for Development Economics, Stanford University, March 2016, and the National Bureau of Economics Research Conference on Poverty Traps, Washington D.C., and Georgia Tech University. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Working Paper W22661.  In Economics of Asset Accumulation and Poverty Traps, University of Chicago Press (2019).  Media coverage: Christianity Today, The New York Times.

“Poverty, Aspirations, and the Economics of Hope" (with Travis Lybbert) Presented by Lybbert at the UC Davis Agricultural and Resource Economics Seminar, January 2014, at the Economics of Global Poverty conference, Gordon College, January 7, 2015, and by Wydick at Hope College, October 2014, at San Jose State University, November 2014, at the Conference for Human Dignity, University of Notre Dame, October 25, 2015.  Economic Development and Cultural Change (July 2018), vol.6 no.4.

“Developing Hope Among Impoverished Children: Using Child Self-Portraits to Measure Program Effects" (with Paul Glewwe-University of Minnesota and Phillip Ross-Boston University). Presented at the Young Lives Conference (Wydick), Oxford, UK July 2013, the ASREG (Associated Study for Religion, Economics, and Culture) meetings (Glewwe) March 2014, the University of Notre Dame (Wydick) October 2014, NEUDC at Boston University (Ross) November 2014, ACE Meetings at Gordon College (Wydick) January 2015, the January 2015 AEA meetings (Ross), and the University of Washington (Glewwe) March 2015. Journal of Human Resources (April 2018), vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 299-239.  Media coverage in The New York Times.

“The Economics of Parenting, Self-Esteem, and Academic Performance: Theory and a Test" (with Rajeev Darolia, George Washington University) Presented at the University of San Francisco Graduate Seminar by Darolia.  Economica (April 2011), vol. 78, issue 310, pp. 215-239.

Microfinance, Social Capital, and Group Lending

“Developing Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurial Aspirations: Results from Field Experiments in India" (with Andrew Hobbs, Ester Agasha, and Akash Shaji, University of San Francisco).  Working Paper, December 2023.

“Microfinance on the Margin: Why Recent Impact Studies May Understate Average Treatment Effects" (Comment)  Analysis and comment on symposium of papers presenting six randomized trials of microfinance in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics by Angelucci et al. (Mexico); Attanasio et al. (Mongolia); Augsburg et al. (Bosnia-Herzegovina); Banerjee et al. (India); Crépon et. al. (Morocco); and Tarozzi et al. (Ethiopia). Journal of Development Effectiveness (April 2016), vol. 8, no.2, pp. 257-265.    

“Measuring Microfinance: Analyzing the Conflict between Practitioners and Researchers with Evidence from Nepal"  (with Ram Rajbanshi and Meng Huang) presented at the Pacific Conference for Development Economics, UC Davis, March 17, 2012.  Presented at the U.C. Berkeley Development Lunch Seminar, February 6, 2013. World Development (April 2015), vol. 68, pp. 30-47. 

“Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard in Joint-Liability Loan Contracts: Evidence from an Artefactual Field Experiment”  (with Giorgia Barboni, Alessandra Cassar, and Arturo Rodriguez Trejo). Presented by Barboni at London School of Economics.  University of Chicago Special Issue on Field Experiments in Economics and Management, Guest Editors: John List, Anya Samak, and Michael Price, Journal of Economics and Management (July 2013), vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 153-184.

“Social Networks, Neighborhood Effects and Credit Access” (with Harmony Karp Hayes, San Francisco Foundation and Sarah Hilliker Kempf, University of California at San Francisco).  Presented at the Pacific Conference for Development Economics and at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the Conference on Microfinance, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. World Development (June 2011), vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 974-82 (Special Symposium on Microfinance).

“Microfinance and Home Improvement: Using Retrospective Panel Data to Measure Program Effects on Fundamental Events” (with Craig McIntosh and Gonzalo Villaran). Winner, 2006 US Agency for International Development (USAID) Impact Assessment Contest (tie with Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman).  Presentation at the World Bank February 2007, the XV International Conference on Banking and Finance, University of Rome (Tor Vergata) December 2006, University of Southern California February 2006, and the Pacific Conference for Development Economics, UC Davis March 2007. Special Symposium on Microfinance, World Development (June 2011), vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 922-37 

“Does Social Capital Matter?  Evidence from a Five-Country Group Lending Experiment” (with Alessandra Cassar).  Presented at the Northeast Universities Development Conference (Boston University) November, 2008, University of California and Berkeley Development seminar, February 2008, and at the University of California at Davis Department Seminar January 2008, and Cal Tech May 2008 (by Cassar).  Oxford Economic Papers (October 2010), vol. 62, pp. 715–739.

“The Effect of Social Capital on Group Loan Repayment: Evidence from Field Experiments" (with Alessandra Cassar). Presented by Crowley at the July 2005 Conference on Microfinance in Groningen, the Netherlands. Symposium on the Empirics of Microfinance. Economic Journal (February 2007), vol. 117, no. 517, pp. 85-106.

“Microfinance Among the Maya: Tracking the Progress of Credit Program Participants" Development and Change (June 2002), vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 489–509.

“Microfinance Lending to Female Entrepreneurs: Sacrificing Growth for Poverty Reduction?"  (with Michael Kevane, Santa Clara University.)  World Development (July 2001), vol. 29, no. 7, pp. 1225-36.

“Group Lending under Dynamic Incentives as a Borrower Discipline Device" Presented at the U.C. Berkeley Development Economics Seminar, February 2000.  Review of Development Economics (October 2001), vol. 5, pp. 406-20.

"Access to Credit, Human Capital, and Class Structural Mobility" Presented at the U.C. Berkeley Development Economics Seminar, Department of Economics, March 1994.  Journal of Development Studies (August 1999), vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 131-152.

“Can Social Cohesion be Harnessed to Repair Market Failures? Evidence from Group Lending in Guatemala" Presented at the U.C. Berkeley Development Economics Seminar, Department of Economics, October 1995, and at interview seminars (job market paper).  Economic Journal  (July 1999), vol. 109, pp. 463‑75.

Credit and Financial Markets

“Do Risky Microfinance Borrowers Really Invest in Risky Projects? A Test from Bolivian Microfinance" (with Alessandra Cassar and Eliana Zeballos, UC Davis). Presented by Zeballos at the Pacific Conference for Development Economics, March 2010, University of Southern California. Journal of Development Studies (February 2014), vol. 50, no.2, pp. 276-287.

“Credit Rationing with Behavioral Foundations: Revisiting Stiglitz and Weiss" (with Alessandra Cassar). December 2012. Working Paper.

“What Do Credit Bureaus Do? Understanding Screening, Incentive, and Credit Expansion Effects"  (with Craig McIntosh, UC San Diego). Presented at the 2007 Northeast Universities Development Consortium Conference, Harvard University, October 26-27, the 2008 Pacific Conference for Development Economics, and the University of California at Santa Barbara, May 2007.   Summary presentation of results under the title "Competition, Microfinance, and Information"  FSR Forum: Scientific Magazine of the University of Rotterdam, Netherlands (July 2012), vol. 14, no. 4, pp.24-29.

“Credit Information Systems in Less Developed Countries: Recent History and a Test” (with Craig McIntosh, UC San Diego and Jill Luoto, UC Berkeley.)  Economic Development and Cultural Change (January 2007), vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 313-334.

“Competition and Microfinance” (with Craig McIntosh, UC San Diego.)  Presented at Princeton University, December 2002, WEA Meetings in Seattle, July 2002, UC Davis, May 2002, and presented by McIntosh at UC Berkeley. Journal of Development Economics (December 2005), vol. 78, no. 2, pp. 271-298.

“How Efficient are the Emerging African Stock Markets?" (with Magnus Magnusson, Cambridge University.)  Journal of Development Studies (April 2002), vol. 38, no. 4, pp.41-156.

Applied Game Theory, Labor Economics, and Industrial Organization

“Does New Information Technology Undermine Media Quality? The Paradox of Commercial Public Goods" (with Man-Lui Lau, University of San Francisco). Journal of Industry, Competition, and Trade (June 2014), vol. 14, no. 2, pp.145-157.

“Hypocrisy and Hypocrites: A Game-Theoretic Note"  Faith and Economics (Spring 2012), vol. 15, pp.23-30.

“Do Race-based Preferences Perpetuate Discrimination Against Marginalized Ethic Groups?"  Presented at the Bay Area Labor Market Association Conference, Stanford University, the Western Economic Association Meetings, and the University of San Francisco.  Journal of Developing Areas (Fall 2008), vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 165-181.

“Grandma was Right: Why Cohabitation Undermines Relational Happiness, but is Increasing Anyway" (Appendix with proofs and derivations.)  Kyklos: International Review for Social Sciences (November 2007), vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 617-645.

“Affirmative Action in College Admissions: Examining Labor Market Effects of Four Alternative Policies"  Contemporary Economic Policy (January 2002), vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 12-24.  

"Social Norms and the Time Allocation of Women's Labor in Burkina Faso" (with Michael Kevane, Santa Clara University) Appendix with Proofs and Derivations available.  Presented at the U.C. Berkeley Development Economics Seminar by Kevane, October 1998.  Review of Development Economics (February 2001), vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 119–129.

RESEARCH PROJECTS IN PROGRESS:

"The Impacts of Clubfoot and Clubfoot Treatment on Ethiopian Children" with Gianna Camacho (University of San Francisco) and Patrizio Piraino (University of Notre Dame and CEIDS)

"Interventions for Children of Incarcerated Parents: A Study of Camp Hope in Atlanta" with Alexa Nava and Laura Pettinger (University of San Francisco) and David Phillips (University of Notre Dame and CEIDS).

"Understanding Altruism Across Cultures" with Luvuyo Magwaza, Angira Shukla, and Alessandra Cassar (University of San Francisco), Samantha Kassirer and Maryam Kouchaki (Northwestern University), Lucius Caviola (Harvard University)

"Temperature and Economic Behavior: Multi-Country Experimental Evidence" with Andrew Hobbs, Alessandra Cassar, Jesse Anttila-Hughes (USF), Travis Lybbert (UC Davis), Irvin Rojas (CIDE), Francesco Bogliacino (National University of Colombia) and 2023 USF M.S. cohort.

"Financial Literacy, Aspirations, and Microcredit" with Andrew Hobbs, Ester Agasha, Akosh Shaji, Stanley Yip, and Prakriti Shakya (University of San Francisco)

"Mobilizing Church Networks to Aid Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine" with Kent Annan and Jaime Aten (Wheaton College), Patrizio Piraino (Notre Dame), Ange Kakpo (Seattle Pacific University, and Chris Barrett (Cornell University).