RESEARCH

WORKING PAPERS

Misallocation in the Public Sector? Cross-Country Evidence from Two Million Primary Schools [paper]

This paper examines the allocation of teachers across public primary schools and assesses its relevance for aggregate learning levels. Harmonizing administrative data on the universe of public primary schools from 85 countries, I build a new global school-level data set that comprises nearly two million schools across 27,691 administrative units. I document that pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs) in high-income countries are low on aggregate and vary little between schools. In contrast, in poor countries aggregate PTRs are high and differences in PTRs between schools are large. Even at the local level, within second-tier administrative units, differences are substantial. Moreover, PTRs are only weakly negatively correlated with local levels of population density, wealth and education. To assess the implications of these facts for aggregate educational outcomes, I leverage data from an experiment in Kenya that assigned an extra teacher to randomly selected primary schools. I show that the effect of adding a teacher on test scores is larger at schools with higher baseline PTRs, thus suggesting that reallocating teachers from low- to high-PTR schools could not only reduce inequality of opportunity but also increase aggregate learning. [Old version available here: STICERD Working Paper No. EOPP 70] 

Using Data for Development: Evidence from a Phone System for Agricultural Advice  [paper] - R&R World Development

(with Michael Kremer, Ofir Reich, Zhengyun Sun, Sam van Herwaarden, Habtamu Yesigat, Elias Nure and Temesgen Gebeyehu) 

We study the performance of a governmental phone-based agricultural extension system in a developing country which provides agricultural advice to farmers via interactive voice response (IVR). Through the analysis of  administrative data generated by the system, we identify potential for system improvements. Based on this, we develop specific interventions to increase system performance and test these in randomized control trials. We find that small changes in the design of the interactive voice response system can have substantial effects on the amount of agricultural advice accessed by farmers.

Can Brick Phones Bridge the Digital Learning Divide? Evidence from SMS-based Math Practice [paper]

(with Guthrie Gray-Lobe and Sarah Kabay)

Hardware requirements are a barrier to widespread adoption of digital learning software among low-income populations. We investigate the demand among smallholder-farming households for a simple, adaptive math learning tool that can be accessed by “brick” phones, and its effect on educational outcomes. Over a quarter of invited households used the tool, with greater demand among households lacking electricity, radios, or televisions, and greater usage when schools were out of session. Engagement lapses without regular reminders to use the service. Using random variation in access to the service, we find some evidence that the platform increased test scores, school attendance, and grade attainment. Interpretation of these estimates is complicated by potentially endogenous outcome observation.

WORK IN PROGRESS

Pivot to Power: Resolving a Local Public Good Problem  (with Niclas Moneke)

Economists have long studied the underprovision of public goods. Theoretical mechanisms designed to achieve efficient provision abound. However, empirical evidence how underprovision can be overcome is rare. In this paper, we characterize the provision of last-mile infrastructure as a local public good problem. Our empirical setting is the recent, country-wide public roll-out of the electric grid to hundreds of rural locations in Zambia which connected locations, but not individual agents (the `last mile’). We show that, conditional on grid arrival, the last mile trunk network required to connect individuals appears only in some locations, but not others. We then provide causal evidence that whenever agents with pivotal expected benefits of connection (here: grain mills) are present at baseline, locations see dramatically higher grid adoption among end-users. Consequently, any beneficial effects of electrification on various measures of development are confined to the few locations with pivotal agents at baseline. 

Endogenous Sample Selection in Household Surveys (with Niclas Moneke)

Seasonal Employment and Development (with Niclas Moneke)

Clean Air in the Classroom (with Nitin Bharti, David Blakeslee, Samreen Malik and Talha Naeem)

Public Resource Allocation in Weak States: Evidence from Mozambican Schools (with Tsogsag Nyamdavaa)

Public Sector Compensation, Service Delivery and Local Development (with Ana-Maria Radu)