Journal Articles

“Food Stamps and America's Poorest” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, forthcoming (with Margitic, J., Ravallion, M., and Tiehen, L.). 

“What Makes Public Sector Data Valuable for Development?” World Bank Research Observer, April 2023, 38(2): 325–46 (with Mahler, D., Wollburg, P., Kilic, T. and Veerappan, M.). doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lkad004. 

“Mind the Gap Disparities in Assessments of Living Standards Using National Accounts and Household Surveys.” Review of Income and Wealth, 2022, 68(S2): 385-420 (with Prydz, E.B. and U. Serajuddin). doi: 10.1111/roiw.12577

“Measuring Poverty in a Growing World. Introduction to the Special Issue.” Review of Income and Wealth, 2022, 68(S2): 261-263 (co-editor with Pittau, G. and Gibson, J.).

“Why is Growth in Developing Countries so Hard to Measure?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2021, 35(3): 215-42 (with Angrist, N. and Goldberg, P.). doi: 10.1257/jep.35.3.215

“Societal Poverty: A Relative and Relevant Measure.” World Bank Economic Review, 2021, 35(1): 108-206 (with Prydz, E.B.). (Working paper version, doi: 10.1093/wber/lhz018) 

“Land Fragmentation and Food Insecurity in Ethiopia.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2020, 102(5): 1557-77 (with Knippenberg, E. and Hoddinott, J.). doi: 10.1002/ajae.12081

“Data Gaps, Data Incomparability, and Data Imputation: A Review of Poverty Measurement Methods for Data-Scarce Environments.” Journal of Economic Surveys, 2019, 33(3): 757-797 (with Dang, H. and Carletto, G.). doi: 10.1111/joes.12307 (pdf)

"Do Different Types of Assets have Differential Effects on Child Education? Evidence from Tanzania.” World Development, 2018, 109(September): 14-28 (with Kafle, K. and Winter-Nelson, A). doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.04.006 (Working Paper, Article available upon request).

"Land Productivity and Plot Size: Is Measurement Error Driving the Inverse Relationship?” Journal of Development Economics, 2018, 130(January): 84-99 (with Desiere, Sam). (Copy of paper is available at DOI, also available upon request).

"Dynamics of Child Malnutrition in Rural and Small-Town Ethiopia” South African Journal of Economics, 2018, 86(2): 127-52 (with Seff, I. and Baird, S.). doi:10.1111/saje.12190 (pdf)

"Food Counts: Measuring Food Consumption and Expenditures in Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HECS). Introduction to the Special Issue.” Food Policy, 2017, 72 (October): 1-6 (co-editor with Zezza, A., Carletto, C., Fiedler, J., and Gennari, P.). (Copy of paper is available at DOI, also available upon request).

"Noncomparable Poverty Comparisons.” Journal of Development Studies, 2018, 54(3): 523-36, (with Serajuddin, Umar). doi: 10.1080/00220388.2016.1274394. (Working Paper, article available upon request).

"Dynamics of Wellbeing and Poverty in Ethiopia: Introduction to a Special Issue.” Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 2016, XXV(2): i-xi (co-editor with Seff, I., Ambel, A. and T. Ferede). (Copy of paper is available at DOI).

"Multidimensional Poverty Dynamics in Ethiopia: How do they differ from Consumption-based Poverty Dynamics.” Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 016, XXV(2): 1-35 (with Seff, I.). (Copy of paper is available at DOI).

“A Profile of Food Insecurity Dynamics in Rural and Small-town Ethiopia.” Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 2016, XXV(2): 77-112 (with D’Souza, A.). (Copy of paper is available at DOI).

“Nonfarm Enterprises in Rural Ethiopia: Improving Livelihoods by Generating Income and Smoothing Consumption?.” Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 2016, XXV(2): 171-204 (with Kowalski, J., Lipcan, A., McIntosh, K., Smida, R., Sørensen, S. and Seff, I.). (Copy of paper is available at DOI).

"Estimating International Poverty Lines from Comparable National Thresholds.” Journal of Economic Inequality, June 2016, 14(2): 185-98 (with Prydz, EB). (Copy of paper is available at DOI, also available upon request).

"A Global Count of the Extreme Poor in 2012: Data Issues, Methodology and Initial Results.” Journal of Economic Inequality, June 2016, 14(2):141-172 (with Ferreira, F., Chen, S., Dabalen, A., Dihkanov, Y., Hamadeh, N., Jolliffe, D., Narayan, A., Prydz, E., Sangraula, P., Serajuddin, U., Yoshida, N.). (Paper available at DOI, also available upon request).

"From Tragedy to Renaissance: Improving Agricultural Data for Better Policies.” Journal of Development Studies, 2015, 51(2): 133-148. (with Gero Carletto and Raka Banerjee). (Copy of paper is available at DOI, also available upon request).

"A Decade of Progress in Reducing Poverty: An Introduction to the Special Issue.” Bangladesh Development Studies, 2014, 37(1/2): iii-vii (with Mustafa Mujeri and Iffath Sharif). (Copy of paper available on Research Gate, and also available upon request.)

"Bangladesh, a Middle Income Country by 2021: What Will It Take in terms of Poverty Reduction?” Bangladesh Development Studies, 2014, 37(1/2): 1-19 (with Lea Gimenez and Iffath Sharif). (Copy of paper available on Research Gate, and also available upon request.)

"Inflation for the Poor in Bangladesh: A Comparison of CPI and Household Survey Data.” Bangladesh Development Studies, 2014, 37(1/2): 57-81 (with Lea Gimenez). (Copy of paper available on Research Gate, and also available upon request.)

"Food Insecurity in Vulnerable Populations: Coping with Food Price Shocks in Afghanistan." American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2014, 96(3): 790-812 (with Anna D'Souza). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and also available upon request.)

"Conflict, Food Price Shocks, and Food Insecurity: The experience of Afghan Households." Food Policy, 2013, 42(2013): 32-47 (with Anna D’Souza). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and also available upon request.)

"Identifying the Effects of Food Stamps on Child Health Outcomes when Participation is Endogenous and Misreported." Journal of the American Statistical Association, 2012, 107(499): 958-75 (with Brent Kreider, John Pepper and Craig Gundersen). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and also available as PDF.)

"Rising Food Prices and Coping Strategies: Household-level Evidence from Afghanistan." Journal of Development Studies, 2012, 48(2): 282-299. (Copy of paper available at DOI, or working paper version: PDF, and available upon request.)

"Overweight and Poor? On the Relationship between Income and the Body Mass Index." Economics and Human Biology, 2011, 9(3): 342-55. (Copy of paper available at DOI, working paper version: IZA working paper: PDF, and available upon request.)

"The Challenge of Program Evaluation: When Increasing Program Participation Decreases the Relative Well-Being of Participants." Food Policy, August 2009, 34(4): 367-376 (with Craig Gundersen and Laura Tiehen). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and also available on Research Gate.)

"Censored Quantile Regression and Purchases of Ice Cream." Food Economics, 2008, 5(3): 152-163 (with Geir Gustavsen and Kyrre Rickertsen). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and also available on Research Gate.)

"Socioeconomic, Behavioural and Environmental Factors Predicted Body Weights and Household Food Insecurity Scores in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten." British Journal of Nutrition, August 2008, 100(2): 438-444 (with Bhargava, Alok and Larry Howard). (Copy of paper available at DOI,and also available on Research Gate.)

"Earnings, Schooling and Economic Reform: Econometric Evidence from Hungary (1986-2004)." World Bank Economic Review, 2007, 21(3): 509-526 (with Nauro Campos). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and also available as: PDF.)

"Poverty, Prices and Place: How Sensitive is the Spatial Distribution of Poverty to Cost of Living Adjustments?" Economic Inquiry, April 2006, 44(2): 296-310. (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available as an NPC working paper.)

"A Comparison of Parametric and Semi-parametric Estimates of Farm Profit-- Accounting for Sample Design in Household Surveys." Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 2006, 45(2): 107-125. (Copy of paper available on Research Gate.)

"The Demand for Food away from Home: Do other Preferences Compete with our Desire to be Healthy?" Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 2005, 30(3): 520-536 (with Hayden Stewart, Noel Blisard and Sanjib Bhuyan). (Copy of paper available on Research Gate, and also available upon request.)

"Does Market Liberalization Reduce Gender Discrimination? Econometric Evidence from Hungary, 1986 to 1998." Labour Economics, 2005, 12(1): 1-22 (with Nauro Campos). [Lead article] (Copy of paper available at DOI, working paper version on Research Gate, and available upon request.)

"Food Stamp Benefits and Child Poverty." American Journal of Agricultural Economics, August 2005, 87(3): 569-581 (with Craig Gundersen, Laura Tiehen, and Joshua Winicki). (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"Poverty in Egypt: Modeling and Policy Simulations." Economic Development and Cultural Change, January 2005, 53(2): 327-346 (with Gaurav Datt). (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"Robust Poverty and Inequality Measurement in Egypt: Correcting for Spatial-price Variation and Sample Design Effects." Review of Development Economics, 2004, 8(4): 557-572 (with Gaurav Datt and Manohar Sharma). (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"Continuous and Robust Measures of the Overweight Epidemic: 1971-2000." Demography, May 2004, 41(2): 303-314. (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"The Impact of Education in Rural Ghana: Examining Household Labor Allocation and Returns On and Off the Farm." Journal of Development Economics, 2004, 73(1): 287-314. (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"The Extent of Overweight Among US Children and Adolescents from 1971-2000." International Journal of Obesity, January 2004, 28(1): 4-9. (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"After, Before and During: Returns to Education in Hungary (1986-1998)." Economic Systems, December 2003,27(4): 377-390 (with Nauro Campos). (Copy of paper available at DOI, working paper version available on Research Gate, and available upon request.)

"Do Income Constraints Inhibit Expenditures on Fruits and Vegetables among Low-Income Households?" Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, December 2003, 28(3): 465-480 (with Hayden Stewart and Noel Blisard). (Copy of paper available on Research Gate, and available upon request.)

"On the Relative Wellbeing of the Nonmetropolitan Poor: An Examination of Alternate Definitions of Poverty during the 1990s." Southern Economic Journal, October 2003, 70(2): 295-311. (Copy of paper available at DOI, also available on Research Gate.)

"Estimating Sampling Variance from the Current Population Survey: A Synthetic Design Approach to Correcting Standard Errors." Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 2002/2003, 28(4): 239-261. (Copy of paper available upon request, and working paper version available on Research Gate.)

"The Gender Wage Gap in Bulgaria: A Semiparametric Estimation of Discrimination." Journal of Comparative Economics, June 2002, 30(2): 276-295. (Copy of paper available at DOI, working paper version on Research Gate, and available upon request.)

"Whose Education Matters in the Determination of Household Income: Evidence from a Developing Country." Economic Development and Cultural Change, January 2002, 50(2): 287-312. (Copy of paper available at DOI, working paper version on Research Gate, and available upon request.)

"A Profile of Poverty in Egypt." African Development Review, December 2001, 13(2): 202-237 (with Gaurav Datt and Manohar Sharma). (Copy of paper available at DOI, and available on Research Gate.)

"Measuring Absolute and Relative Poverty: The Sensitivity of Estimated Household Consumption to Survey Design." Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 2001, 27(1/2): 1-23. (Copy of paper available on Research Gate, and available upon request.)

"Skills, Schooling, and Household Income: Evidence from Ghana." World Bank Economic Review, January 1998, 12(1): 81-104. (Copy of paper available at DOI, and available on Research Gate.)

Books, Chapters, Reviews and Bulletins:

Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2018: Piecing Together the Poverty Puzzle. Poverty and Shared Prosperity. Washington, DC: The World Bank. doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-1330-6 (co-led with Lugo, Maria Ana). (report)

"Coping with food price shocks in Afghanistan" in Food Price Volatility and Implications for Food Security and Policy (eds. Kalkuhl, von Braun, and Torero), Springer Press, 2016 (with Anna D’Souza).

"The Effect of SNAP on Poverty," in (eds.). USA: Stanford University Press, (with Laura Tiehen and Tim Smeeding) in SNAP Matters: How Food Stamps affect Wellbeing (eds. Bartfeld, J., Gundersen, C., Smeeding, T., Ziliak, J.), ). USA: Stanford University Press, 2016 (with Laura Tiehen and Tim Smeeding)

A Measured Approach to Ending Poverty and Boosting Shared Prosperity: Concepts, Data, and the Twin Goals. Policy Research Report. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014. (with Lanjouw, P., Chen, S., Kraay, A., Meyer, C., Negre, M., Prydz, E., Vakis, R. and K. Wethli). (Copy of book is available at DOI, and also available on Research Gate.

Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute (edited volume with Ziliak, J.). October 2008. (Book available at Upjohn Institute (TOC), and introduction is available on Research Gate.

Review of "Land and Schooling: Transferring Wealth across Generations," by Quisumbing, A., Estudillo, J. and Otsuka, K., Agricultural Economics, 2005, 32(3): 331-332. (PDF)

"Censored Least Absolute Deviations Estimator: CLAD." Stata Technical Bulletin, November 2000, STB-58 (with Bohdan Krushelnytskyy and Anastassia Semykina).

"The Impact of Cognitive Skills on Income from Farming." 1999. in Glewwe, P. The Economics of School Quality Investments in Developing Countries: An Empirical Study of Ghana. Macmillan Press, United Kingdom.

"Robust Standard Errors for the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Class of Poverty Indices: SEPOV." 1999. Stata Technical Bulletin, STB-51 (with Anastassia Semykina).

"Bootstrap Standard Errors for Indices of Inequality: INEQERR." 1999. Stata Technical Bulletin, STB-51 (with Bohdan Krushelnytskyy).

"Huber-correction for Two-stage Least Squares Estimates." 1996. Stata Technical Bulletin, STB-29: sg46 (with Mead Over and Andrew Foster).

Selected Project Reports, Monographs, Agency Reports:

Bangladesh Poverty Assessment: Assessing a Decade of Progress in Reducing Poverty, 2000-2010. Bangladesh Development Series no. 31. World Bank, 2013. (with I. Sharif and L. Gimenez). (homepage)

Afghanistan Poverty Assessment: Four reports on dimensions of wellbeing with data visualization tools. South Asia Economic Policy and Poverty, World Bank, 2012. (with S. Redaelli, L. Gimenez and A. Kotikula). (homepage)

"Alleviating Poverty in the United States: The Critical Role of SNAP Benefits.” ERS Economic Research Report no. 132, Washington, DC: USDA, April 2012 (with L. Tiehen and C. Gundersen). (PDF)

"Income Volatility Is Rising, with Mixed Effects on Nutrition Assistance Participation." Amber Waves, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2009, 7(4):28 31. (PDF)

"Income Volatility and Food Assistance Programs." National Poverty Center Policy Brief no. 11. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. October 2008 (with J. Ziliak). (PDF)

"Adjusting for Living Costs Can Change Who is Considered Poor." Amber Waves, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2006, 4(5):10 15. [Agency Award Winning article] (PDF)

"The Cost of Living and the Geographic Distribution of Poverty." ERS Economic Research Report no. 26, Washington, DC: USDA, September 2006 (PDF)

"Low-Income Households' Expenditures on Fruits and Vegetables." Agricultural Economic Report No. 833, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2004 (with Noel Blisard and Hayden Stewart).

"Food Stamp Benefits and Child Poverty in the 1990s." Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Report No. 33, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2003 (with Laura Tiehen, Josh Winicki, and Craig Gundersen).

"Comparisons of Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Poverty During the 1990s." Rural Development Research Report No. 96, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2003.

"Nonmetro Poverty: Assessing the Effects of the 1990s." Amber Waves, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2003, 1(4): 30-37.

"Rural Poverty at Record Low in 2000." Rural America, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2003, 17(4): 74-77.

"Rural Poverty Rates stays under 15 Percent in 1999." Rural America, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2002, 16(4): 39-41.

"Poverty Measurement: Concepts, Data and Methodology." 1998. Understanding Poverty and Well-Being in Mozambique: The First National Assessment (1996-97). International Food Policy Research Institute monograph, Washington DC. (with G. Datt, K. Simler, G. Dava, J. Low, C. Matusse, and E. Tostão).

"Poverty Estimates and Profile." 1998. Understanding Poverty and Well-Being in Mozambique: The First National Assessment (1996-97). International Food Policy Research Institute monograph, Washington, DC. (with K. Simler, G. Datt, S. Handa, G. Dava, J. Low, Gilead Mlay, C. Matusse, E. Tostão, J. Mutondo, Farizana Omar, and S. Mukherjee).

"Review of the Agricultural Activities Module from the Living Standards Measurement Study Survey." 1995. Improving the Policy Relevance of the Living Standards Measurement Study Surveys, Research Paper Series, Paper No. 7. The World Bank. Washington, DC.

Working Papers in Progress and under Review:

"Estimating poverty with panel data, comparably: an example from Jordan," World Bank Policy Research Working Paper series no. 7373, 2015 (with Umar Serajuddin). (PDF)

"Reaching Global Poverty Goals: How Does Purchasing Power Parity matter?" IZA Discussion Paper no. 9064, Bonn, 2015 (PDF) also released as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper series no. 7256, 2015 (PDF) (with Espen Beer Prydz).

"From Tragedy to Renaissance: Improving Agricultural Data for Better Policies" World Bank Working Paper Series no. 7150, January 2015 (with Gero Carletto and Raka Banerjee). (PDF)

"The Effect of SNAP on Poverty," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Paper no. 1415-13, October 2013 (with Laura Tiehen and Tim Smeeding). (PDF)

"Conflict, Food Price Shocks, and Food Insecurity: The experience of Afghan households." IZA Discussion Paper 6621, Bonn, 2012 (with Anna D’Souza). (PDF)

"Food Security and Wheat Prices in Afghanistan: A Distribution-sensitive Analysis of Household-level Impacts." IZA Discussion Paper no. 6481, Bonn, 2012 (with Anna D'Souza). (PDF)

"Overweight and Poor? The Relationship between Income and the Body Mass Index in the U.S." IZA Discussion Paper no. 5366, Bonn, 2010. (PDF)

"Rising Food Prices and Coping Strategies : Household-level Evidence from Afghanistan" World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series, no. 5466, Washington, DC, 2010. (PDF)

"Earnings, Schooling and Economic Reform: Econometric Evidence from Hungary (1986-2004)." IZA Discussion Paper no. 2678, Bonn, 2007. (PDF)

Courses Taught

Econometrics for Cross-sectional and Panel Data (SAIS, Johns Hopkins MA course) Student evaluations, year: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Econometrics for Practitioners (WBG-IIDS course, Kathmandu, 2018, 2019)

Applied Econometrics (Adjunct Professor, SAIS, Johns Hopkins Univ, Masters course) Student evaluations, year: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Quantitative Methods III (Adjunct Professor, Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Masters course) Student evaluations, year: 2003

Econometrics II (Assistant Professor, CERGE, Ph.D. course) Student evaluations, year: 1999/2000

Public Economics (Assistant Professor, CERGE, Ph.D. course) Student evaluations, year: 1998/9, 1999/2000

Quantitative Analysis (Lecturer, Woodrow Wilson School, Masters course)

Applied Microeconomics (Lecturer, Woodrow Wilson School, Masters course)

Industrial Organization (Lecturer, Woodrow Wilson School, Masters course)

Introductory Microeconomics (Teaching Assistant, Princeton University, Undergraduate course)

Introductory Macroeconomics (Teaching Assistant, Princeton University, Undergraduate course)

Fellowships and Awards

Fellow with the Global Labor Organization (GLO), 2017 - current

Research Fellow with the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2005 - present

Research Affiliate of the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, 2004 - present

Special Appointment, Graduate Faculty of Purdue University, Dept. of Ag. Economics, 2007 - present

Research Fellow of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, 1998 - 2010

Visiting Scholar, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan, September 2007

World Bank Faculty Research Fellowship, 1999 - 2000

Princeton University Fellowship, 1986 - 1990

Reader's Digest Teaching Award for Introductory Macroeconomics, 1989

Sloan Foundation Summer Fellowship, 1989

Referee

Agricultural Economics, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Demography, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Economics and Human Biology, Economics of Transition, Empirical Economics, European Journal of Health Economics, Food Policy, Food Security, Health Economics, International Regional Science Review, Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Journal of Comparative Economic Studies, Journal of Development Studies, Journal of Development Economics, Journal of Economic Inequality, Journal of the European Economic Association, Journal of Food Security, Journal of Human Resources, Journal of Population Economics, Obesity, Oxford Economic Papers, Pediatrics, Public Health Nutrition, Regional Studies, Review of Agricultural Economics, Review of Development Economics, Review of Regional Studies, World Bank Economic Review, World Development

Reviewer

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Grant Program, 2014

Hunger in America, Feeding America, 2013

UK Dept for International Development (DFID) & Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), 2007, 11

USDA Food Assistance and Nutrition Program (FANRP) Competitive Grants, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2010

Global Development Network Research Competition for Eastern and Central Europe, 2002, 03,04, 05, 07, 15

National Science Foundation, 2007

Routledge Press, UK, 2005

Health and Health Services Research Fund, Government of Hong Kong, 2004