Development

The Development research group uses insights on human behavior to help alleviate poverty and promote growth and good governance in emerging economies.

Representative Publications

Callen, Michael, Saad Gulzar, Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee. 2025. “Personalities and Public Sector Performance: Evidence from a Health Experiment in Pakistan.” Economic Development and Cultural Change, 73 (3): 1439-1474.

Muhammad Yasir Khan. 2025. “Mission Motivation and Public Sector Performance: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan.” American Economic Review, 115 (7): 2343-2375.

Gulzar, Saad and Muhammad Yasir Khan. 2025. “Good Politicians: Experimental Evidence on Motivations for Political Candidacy and Government Performance.” The Review of Economic Studies, 92 (1): 339-364.

Callen, Michael, Michael Callen, Saad Gulzar, Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee. 2023. “The Political Economy of Public Sector Absence.” Journal of Public Economics, 218: 104787.

Hasanain, Ali, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee. 2023. “No Bulls: Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Veterinarian Ratings in Pakistan.” Journal of Development Economics, 161: 102999.

Andreoni, James, Michael Callen, Karrar Hussain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Charlie Sprenger. 2023 “Using Preference Parameter Estimates to Customize Incentives: An Application to Polio Vaccination Drives in Pakistan." Journal of European Economic Association, 21 (4): 1428-1477.

Callen, Michael, Saad Gulzar, Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee. 2020. “Data and Policy Decisions: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan.” Journal of Development Economics, 146: 102523.

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