Working Papers

"Can Business Grants Mitigate a Crisis? Evidence from Youth Entrepreneurs in Kenya during COVID-19," World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 9874, December 2021 (with Yanina Domenella, Julian Jamison, and Abla Safir)

"Determinants and Dynamics of Business Aspirations: Evidence from Small-Scale Entrepreneurs in an Emerging Market," World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 8400, April 2018 (with Patricio Dalton and Julius Rüschenpöhler)

“Unpacking the Causal Chain of Financial Literacy,” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5798, September 2011 (with Fenella Carpena, Shawn Cole, and Jeremy Shapiro)

Work in Progress

“Evaluating a Financial Education National Campaign: Experimental Evidence from Italy” (with Tim Kaiser, Annamaria Lusardi, and Alessia Sconti)

“The Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 on Small Businesses: Evidence from Kenya” (with Maria de Benito, Julian Jamison, and Abla Safir)

“FIT for Financial Inclusion: Experimental Evidence on Traditional Leaders in Zambia” (with Alfredo Burlando, Jessica Goldberg, Peter Hangoma, and Dean Karlan)

“Future Self, Peer Learning, Digital Business Support, and Grants: Experimental Evidence from Youth Enterprise Development in Kenya” (with Yanina Domenella, Julian Jamison, and Abla Safir)

“Business Plan Competitions and Entrepreneurship in Kenya” (with Francisco Campos and Abla Safir)

“The Long-Term Impact of High School Financial Education: Evidence from Brazil” (with Miriam Bruhn, Gabriel Garber, and Sergio Koyama)

"Digital Finance and Alternative Credit Scoring"

Policy Papers

"The Impact of Interest Rate Caps on the Financial Sector: Evidence from Commercial Banks in Kenya," World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 8393, April 2018 (with Mehnaz Safavian)

“Financial Literacy around the World: An Overview of the Evidence with Practical Suggestions for the Way Forward,” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6107 , July 2012 (with Lisa Xu)

"Financial Literacy in the Developing World," World Bank Mimeo, January 2013 (with Lisa Xu)

Outreach Material

Co-editor of World Bank Research Department Interest Bearing Notes. A product of the Finance and Private Sector Research Team in the World Bank’s Development Research Group, it reports on research done by the Team, as well as non-World Bank research, conferences, related websites, new datasets, and other research and policy-oriented news (with Miriam Bruhn, Robert Cull, and L. Colin Xu)

“What are Business Aspirations Worth in Developing Countries?” Lets Talk Development Blog, May 29, 2018.

“To Cap or Not to Cap? What Does Kenya’s Experience Tell Us About the Impact of Interest Rate Caps on the Financial Sector?” All About Finance Blog, June 25, 2018.

“The Impact of Financial Education through Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Rwanda.” IPA Financial Inclusion Results Brief, 2018.

“Impact Evaluation for Policy Makers.” Bank Negara Malaysia Public Lecture, April 2018.

Co-editor of Special Issue on Financial Literacy, July 2018, Economic Notes.

“Pathways to Profits: Identifying Separate Channels of Business Growth through Business Training,” Finance and Private Sector Impact Evaluation Policy Note No. 41, February 2017

“The ABCs of Financial Education,” Finance and Private Sector Impact Evaluation Policy Note No. 40, February 2017

“Understanding Financial Education: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What’s Next?” DECRG Policy Research Talk, May 23, 2017

“Pathways to Profits for Micro and Small Enterprises,” World Bank All About Finance Blog, October 2016

“When Entrepreneurship Training Matters the Most,” International Growth Center Blog, August, 2016

“Experiencing Development: Fast Cars and Fast Cash,” World Bank Lets Talk Development Blog, February 2015

“The Impact of High School Financial Education: Large-Scale Experimental Evidence from Brazil,” Finance and Private Sector Impact Evaluation Policy Note No. 26, January 2014 (with Miriam Bruhn)

“Data Corruption and Mucked up Stratification: Problems and (Potential) Solutions in Primary Research,” World Bank Development Impact Blog, April 2013

“Mainstream Media for Social and Financial Change,” World Bank All About Finance Blog, April 2013 (with Gunhild Berg)

“Harnessing Emotional Connections to Improve Financial Decisions,” Finance and Private Sector Impact Evaluation Policy Note No. 23, April 2013 (with Gunhild Berg)

"The Impact of Financial Literacy Training for Migrants and Their Families," Finance & PSD Impact Note, Issue 19, September 2012 (with David McKenzie and Yoko Doi)

“What Have we Learned About Financial Literacy Around the World?” World Bank All About Finance Blog, September 2012 (with Lisa Xu)

“The Impact of Financial Literacy Training for Migrants at Destination,” Finance& PSD Impact Note, Issue 18, May 2012 (with David McKenzie and John Gibson)

“Can Financial Literacy Help Migrants Save on Remittance Costs,” World Bank All About Finance Blog, May 2012 (with David McKenzie)

“Should it be our Business to Promote Business Training?” World Bank All About Finance Blog, June 2011 (with Miriam Bruhn)

“Unpacking the Causal Chain of Financial Literacy,” World Bank Development Impact Blog, June 2011.

“The Impact of Business and Financial Literacy for Young Entrepreneurs in BosniaHerzegovina,” Finance and PSD Impact Note, Issue 13, May 2011 (with Miriam Bruhn)

“New Ideas in Business Growth,” World Bank All About Finance Blog, April 2011 (with Miriam Bruhn)

“The Fad of Financial Literacy?” World Bank All About Finance Blog, August 2010 (Ranked 2nd Most Popular blog post).

”Financial Stability and Access: The Importance of Financial Literacy,” Research Brief, World Bank, January 2009 (with Leora Klapper)

“Access to Finance in Indonesia,” World Bank Jakarta Office, June 2009 (Lead author for analytical chapters)

“Valuing Financial Literacy,” Finance and PSD Impact Note, Issue 5, May 2009 (with Shawn Cole and Thomas Sampson)

“All About Finance,” World Bank Policy Research Report, 2008 (Contributing author)

“In Search of Good Governance: Experiments from South Asia’s Water and Sanitation Sector”, New Delhi: Water and Sanitation Program, The World Bank, 2002. (with J. Davis, S. Tankha, A. Ghosh, P. Martin, T. Samad and G. Prunier)