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
Saad Gulzar and Muhammad Yasir Khan, “Good Politicians: Experimental Evidence on Motivations for Political Candidacy and Government Performance, ” Forthcoming, The Review of Economic Studies, 2024.
Balán, Pablo, Augustin Bergeron, Gabriel Tourek, and Jonathan L. Weigel. 2022. "Local Elites as State Capacity: How City Chiefs Use Local Information to Increase Tax Compliance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo." American Economic Review, 112 (3): 762-97.
Michael Callen, Saad Gulzar, Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee “The Political Economy of Public Sector Absence,” Journal of Public Economics, 2023.
Okunogbe, Oyebola, and Gabriel Tourek. 2024. "How Can Lower-Income Countries Collect More Taxes? The Role of Technology, Tax Agents, and Politics." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 38 (1): 81-106.
Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee, “No Bulls: Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Veterinarian Ratings in Pakistan,” Journal of Development Economics, 2023.
Fernando, A. Nilesh, Niharika Singh, and Gabriel Tourek. 2023. "Hiring Frictions and the Promise of Online Job Portals: Evidence from India." American Economic Review: Insights, 5 (4): 546-62.
Gabriel Tourek, Targeting in tax behavior: Evidence from Rwandan firms, Journal of Development Economics, Volume 158, 2022, 102911, ISSN 0304-3878.
James Andreoni, Michael Callen, Karrar Hussain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Charlie Sprenger, “Using Preference Parameter Estimates to Customize Incentives: An Application to Polio Vaccination Drives in Pakistan," Journal of European Economic Association, 2023.
Michael Callen, Saad Gulzar, Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee, “Data and Policy Decisions: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan,” Journal of Development Economics, 2020.
Representative Working Papers
Michael Callen, Saad Gulzar, Ali Hasanain, Muhammad Yasir Khan, and Arman Rezaee, “Personalities and Public Sector Performance: Evidence from a Health Experiment in Pakistan,”, Revise and Resubmit, Economic Development and Cultural Change.
Augustin Bergeron, Pedro Bessone, John Kabeya Kabeya, Gabriel Tourek, and Jonathan Weigel (2022), “Optimal Assignment of Bureaucrats: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Tax Collectors in the DRC,” Revise and Resubmit, American Economic Review.
Muhammad Yasir Khan, “Mission Motivation and Public Sector Performance: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan”, Revise and Resubmit, American Economic Review
Augustin Bergeron, Elie Kabue Ngindu, Gabriel Tourek, and Jonathan Weigel (2023), “Does Collecting Taxes Erode the Accountability of Informal Leaders? Evidence from the D.R.C”, IIPF Peggy and Richard Musgrave Prize 2023
Muhammad Yasir Khan and S.K. Ritadhi, “Equilibrium Effects of Financial Affirmative Action: Evidence from India”
Mats Ahrenshop, Augustin Bergeron, Laura Paler, Gabriel Tourek, and Jonathan Weigel (2023), “Delegating Tax Collection Does Not Adversely Affect Demand for Accountability: Evidence from an Experiment in the D.R. Congo”
Pablo Balán, Augustin Bergeron, Gabriel Tourek, and Jonathan Weigel (2021), “Property Rights and Social Dependence: How Informal Institutions Shape Land Formalization in Weak States”
Ana de La O, Gabriel Tourek et al. (2022), “Transaction Costs, Collective Benefits, and Selective Incentives: A Six-Country Randomized Trial to Encourage Formalization”
Augustin Bergeron, Arnaud Fournier, John Kabeya Kabeya, Gabriel Tourek, and Jonathan Weigel. (2024), “Using Machine Learning to Create a Property Tax Roll: Evidence from the City of Kananga, D.R. Congo”
