I am a Senior Research Fellow in Behavioural Economics at the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.

My work is in behavioural, labour and development economics, with projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and South Africa. One strand of research examines how information interventions alter beliefs about oneself and expectations about the future, and, in turn, economic and political behaviour. Some work in draft or under review shows:

• Giving unemployed youth information about their relative place in the skills distribution and enabling them to share this information credibly (on certified reports) with employers increases employment and wages.

• Interventions to encourage women to visualise the future increase take-up of water chlorination and reduce child diarrhea.

• Showing farmers motivational documentaries about successful people from similar backgrounds makes them more likely to save, adopt agricultural technologies, expand microenterprises and invest in children's education.

• Providing information on the likely outcome of elections from polls affects voter beliefs, turnout, party choice and party evaluation.

I'm currently writing up work examining the economic, social and political effects of unconditional cash transfer programmes.

• In 420 Kenyan villages, we explore, using a multi-arm randomised controlled trial, the effect of relaxing financial constraints (through an unconditional $1000 GiveDirectly cash transfer), psychological constraints (through a goal-setting intervention), and external and internal constraints simultaneously.

• In partnership with a neighbouring cash transfer trial, we study whether transfers affect group membership, civic participation and political attitudes.

• We also survey non-recipients to explore whether transfers reduce village-level inequality in income and wealth.

More details are on the 'work in progress' page.

Media pieces on social protection and behavioural messaging during COVID19 are here.