Publications
This webpage is being transitioned out. Please visit owenozier.github.io for the most updated information.
American Economic Review, 111(7): 2213-46 (2021)
Joint with Clare Leaver, Pieter Serneels, and Andrew Zeitlin
(Previous version: World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9395)
[Pre-analysis plan and trial registry: Leaver, Ozier, Serneels, and Zeitlin 2018. "Recruitment, effort, and retention effects of performance contracts for civil servants: Experimental evidence from Rwandan primary schools." AEA RCT Registry. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2565-5.0. ]
[2018 BITSS + Development Impact blog post on the associated pre-analysis plan: Power to the Plan (Development Impact link) (BITSS link) ]
Randomized control trial as social observatory: A case study
World Development, March 2020, 127: 104787
Joint with Sarah Baird and Joan Hamory Hicks
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 2020, 50(1): 179-190
Joint with Heather A. Knauer, Pamela Jakiela, Frances Aboud, and Lia C.H. Fernald
Developmental Science, 2019, 22(5): e12875
Joint with Heather A. Knauer, Patricia Kariger, Pamela Jakiela, and Lia C.H. Fernald
The Impact of Violence on Individual Risk Preferences: Evidence from a Natural Experiment
Review of Economics and Statistics, 2019, 101(3): 547-559
Joint with Pamela Jakiela
(Earlier versions: IZA Discussion Paper 9870; World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 7440; via SSRN; and Households in Conflict Network Working Paper 204.)
Exploiting Externalities to Estimate the Long-term Effects of Early Childhood Deworming
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2018, 10(3): 235-262
(Earlier version appears as World Bank WPS 7052; also available from SSRN.)
[Policy note: "KENYA: Do Infants Benefit When Older Siblings are Dewormed?" (English|French); Blog post with video; IPA project page; Featured in: May 2017 World Bank Research e-Newsletter; August 2015 VOX; July 2015 CGD blog; July 2015 GiveWell blog; November 2014 World Bank Research Highlights]
The Impact of Secondary Schooling in Kenya: a Regression Discontinuity Analysis
Journal of Human Resources (2018) 53 (1): 157-188
(Earlier version appears as World Bank WPS 7384, 2015; also available at SSRN.)
Abstract: I estimate the impacts of secondary school on human capital, occupational choice, and fertility for young adults in Kenya. Probability of admission to government secondary school rises sharply at a score close to the national mean on a standardized 8th grade examination, permitting me to estimate causal effects of schooling in a regression discontinuity framework. I combine administrative test score data with a recent survey of young adults to estimate these impacts. My results show that secondary schooling increases human capital, as measured by performance on cognitive tests included in the survey. For men, I find a drop in the probability of low-skill self-employment, as well as suggestive evidence of a rise in the probability of formal employment. The opportunity to attend secondary school also reduces teen pregnancy among women.
- Featured in World Bank Development Research Human Development Quarterly Update 2015 Q3
- Featured in World Bank DECRG September 2015 Research Highlights
- Blog coverage by David Evans on Development Impact: Regression Discontinuity Porn
Commentary. Fixed effects and risks of miscommunication: a comment on Jullien, Sinclair and Garner
International Journal of Epidemiology (2016) 45 (6): 2156-2158
- Coverage in the Daily Nation (Kenya)
Does Africa Need a Rotten Kin Theorem? Experimental Evidence from Village Economies
Review of Economic Studies (2016) 83 (1): 231-268
Joint with Pamela Jakiela
(Earlier version appears as World Bank WPS 6085; also available from SSRN.)
Abstract: This paper measures the economic impacts of social pressures to share income with kin and neighbors in rural Kenyan villages. We conduct a lab experiment in which we randomly vary the observability of investment returns to test whether subjects reduce their income in order to keep it hidden. We find that women adopt an investment strategy that conceals the size of their initial endowment in the experiment, though that strategy reduces their expected earnings. This effect is largest among women with relatives attending the experiment. Parameter estimates suggest that women anticipate that observable income will be "taxed" at a rate above four percent; this effective tax rate nearly doubles when kin can observe income directly. At the village level, we find a robust association between willingness to forgo expected return to keep income hidden in the laboratory experiment, and worse economic outcomes outside the laboratory. Though this paper provides experimental evidence from a single African country - Kenya - observational studies suggest that similar kin pressures may be prevalent in many parts of the developing world.
Data and analysis files (hosted at RESTUD)
Data and analysis files (hosted at the World Bank Microdata Catalog)
- Coverage by Nurith Aizenman for NPR's Goats and Soda Blog: An Experiment Gives Cash Aid To The Poor. Is That Ethical?
- Featured in World Bank Development Research Human Development Quarterly Update 2015 Q3
- Blog coverage by Markus Goldstein on Development Impact: Pull him down? How about pull her down...
Parasites and Vectors (July 2013) 6:198
Joint with CS Mwandawiro, B Nikolay, JH Kihara, DA Mukoko, MT Mwanje, A Hakobyan, RL Pullan, SJ Brooker, SM Njenga
Abstract: An increasing number of countries in Africa and elsewhere are developing national plans for the control of neglected tropical diseases. A key component of such plans is school-based deworming (SBD) for the control of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and schistosomiasis. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of national programmes is essential to ensure they are achieving their stated aims and to evaluate when to reduce the frequency of treatment or when to halt it altogether. The article describes the M&E design of the Kenya national SBD programme and presents results from the baseline survey conducted in early 2012.