Research

 Peer-reviewed journal articles: 

1. “Government unconditional cash transfers and safe transitions to adulthood in Malawi” World Development (Forthcoming). Joint with Monica Lambon-Quayefioa, Amber Peterman, Sudhanshu Handa, Adria Molotsky, Frank Otchere, Peter Mvula, Maxton Tsoka, Gustavo Angeles, Kelly Kilburn, and Annamaria Milazzo. [Final publication]

2. “Behavioral Insights on Cash Transfers to Families” Behavioral Science & Policy (2021), 7 (1): 71-92. Joint with Lisa A. Gennetian, J. Lawrence Aber, and Eldar Shafir. [Final publication]

3. “Cash transfers, Micro-entrepreneurial Activity, and Child Work: Evidence from Malawi and Zambia” World Bank Economic Review (2020), 34 (3): 670-697. Joint with Valeria Groppo and Sudhanshu Handa. [Final publication]

4. “No Lost Generation: Supporting the School Participation of Displaced Syrian Children in Lebanon” Journal of Development Studies (2019), 55 (sup1): 107-127. Joint with Mitchell Morey and David Seidenfeld. [Final publication]

5. “A Model of Poverty and Poverty-Related Stressors: A Qualitative Study in Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania” BMJ Open (2019), 9: e027047. Joint with Brian J. Hall, Melissa Garabiles, Audrey Pereira, Leah Prencipe, and Tia Palermo. [Final publication]

6. “Government of Malawi’s Unconditional Cash Transfer Improves Youth Mental Health” Social Science and Medicine (2019), 225: 108-119. Joint with Gustavo Angeles, Sudhanshu Handa, Kelly Kilburn, Annamaria Milazzo, and Amber Peterman. [Final publication]

7. “Child Schooling and Child Work in the Presence of a Partial Education Subsidy” Journal of Human Resources (2019), 54 (2): 503-531 . Joint with Jed Friedman, Eeshani Kandpal, and Furio C. Rosati. [Final publication: preprint]

8. “Income Transfers, Early Marriage and Fertility in Malawi and Zambia” Studies in Family Planning (2018), 49(4): 295-317 . Joint with Fidelia Dake, Luisa Natali, Gustavo Angeles, Sudhanshu Handa, and Amber Peterman. [Final publication]

9. “Effects of Public Policy on Child Labor: Current Knowledge, Gaps, and Implications for Program Design” World Development (2018), 110: 104-123. Joint with Ana C. Dammert, Eric Mvukiyehe, and Furio C. Rosati. [Final publication]

10. “The Role of Productive Activities in the Lives of Adolescents: Photovoice Evidence from Malawi” Children and Youth Services Review (2018), 86: 246-255. Joint with Sudhanshu Handa and Susannah Zietz. [Final publication]

11. “Women’s Economic Capacity and Children’s Human Capital Accumulation” Journal of Population Economics (2018), 31(2): 453-481. Joint with Patrick Premand, Furio C. Rosati, and Renos Vakis. [Final publication]

12.  “Poverty and Perceived Stress: Evidence from Two Unconditional Cash Transfer Programs in Zambia” Social Science and Medicine (2017), 177, 110-117. Joint with Lisa Hjelm, Sudhanshu Handa, and Tia Palermo. [Final publication]

13. “Cash Transfers and Child Labor” World Bank Research Observer (2014), 29 (2), 202-234. Joint with Furio C. Rosati. [Final publication] 

14. “Does Promoting School Attendance Reduce Child Labor? Evidence from Burkina Faso’s Bright Project” Economics of Education Review (2014), 39 (C), 78-96. Joint with Furio C. Rosati. [Final publication: gated; Working paper: identical to final publication except for layout]

15. “Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health” Journal of Human Resources (2013), 48 (2), 370-403. Joint with Sarah Baird and Berk Özler. [Final publication]

16. “Assessing Sector-wide Programs with Statistical Impact Evaluation: A Methodological Proposal” World Development (2009), 37 (2), 513-520. Joint with Chris Elbers and Jan Willem Gunning. [Final publication: gated]

Chapters in books and other articles: 

1. “Impact Evaluation in Settings of Fragility and Humanitarian Emergency” Joint with Shivit Bakrania, Nikola Balvin, and Silvio Daidone. UNICEF Innocenti Discussion Paper (2021). [Final publication]

2. “Poverty and Distributional Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Chile. IMF Selected Issues Paper (2021). Joint with Trinidad Saavedra. [Final publication]

3. “Beyond Internal Validity: Towards a Broader Understanding of Credibility in Development Policy Research” World Development (2020), 127. ‘Perspective article’, co-authored on behalf of the Transfer Project. [Final publication]

4. “Social Protection in Contexts of Fragility and Forced Displacement: Introduction to a Special Issue” Journal of Development Studies (2019), 55 (sup1): 1-6. Joint with Tilman Brück, Jose Cuesta, Ugo Gentilini, and Amber Peterman. [Final publication]

5. "Using Cash Transfers to Support Displaced Children" invited submission for UNDP International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth - Policy in Focus [Final publication: preview]

6. “Girl Power: Cash Transfers and Adolescent Welfare. Evidence from a Cluster-Randomized Experiment in Malawi” in S. Edwards, S. Johnson, and D. N. Weil (editors), NBER African Successes, Volume II: Human Capital, University of Chicago Press (2016). Joint with Sarah Baird, Ephraim Chirwa, and Berk Özler. [Final publication: gated; Working paper: identical to final publication except for layout]

Working papers:

1. “Policies for aspirations. And opportunities” Joint with Anna Fruttero, Noël Muller, and Óscar Calvo-González. In progress.

2. “Disaster Risk Preparedness in the Caribbean” Joint with Boaz Anglade, Emilia Cucagna, Eliana Rubiano Matulevich, and Anna Luisa Paffhausen. Under submission.

3. “Cash Transfers, Public Works, and Child Activities: Mixed-method Evidence from the United Republic of Tanzania” Revise and resubmit at Journal of Development Studies. Joint with Margaret W. Gichane, Valeria Groppo, and Stephanie Simmons. [Working paper]

4. “Eliminating Child Labour in El Salvador through Economic Empowerment and Social Inclusion.” Joint with Irina Kovrova and Furio C. Rosati. [Permanent working paper]

5. “Selective Schools and Education Decisions: Evidence from Malawi” [Permanent working paper]

My dissertation:

“Keeping Kids in School: Cash Transfers and Selective Education in Malawi” (link to VU university repository, public), Tinbergen Institute Dissertation, 2011.

Abstract: Despite the progress made under the millennium development initiative, limited school-participation continues to pose a problem in many developing countries. This thesis starts with a review of the latest evidence on the effectiveness and feasibility of interventions that aim to increase school participation in developing countries. The thesis then proceeds to examine two aspects of school participation in developing countries more closely, building on experimental and quasi-experimental evidence from Malawi. First, the thesis explores the wide-ranging side effects of conditional cash transfer programs, a policy intervention extensively used to boost school participation. Second, the thesis shows that, contrary to the consensus in the literature, school quality can play an important role in school participation.