Working papers

Institutional Reforms and Child Health: Unintended Effects of the Sharia Penal Codes in Nigeria (JMP)

This paper examines how Nigeria's 2000 Sharia Penal Code reform affected child health outcomes. Using Demographic and Health Survey data and a difference-in-differences framework, I find the reform reduced child anthropometric measures by 0.23 to 0.29 standard deviations (13 to 50 percent of control group means). Effects were concentrated among non-Muslim minorities, while Muslims, the intended beneficiaries, showed no significant change. Enforcement intensity determined outcomes, with high-penalty states eliminating religious differences while low-penalty states worsened disparities. A theoretical model and empirical analysis reveal two mechanisms. First, among Muslims, stronger enforcement encouraged child health investments but also increased son-biased fertility, with these opposing effects offsetting. Second, among non-Muslims, weak enforcement enabled discriminatory service denial, while strong enforcement protected access to services. These findings demonstrate how religious legal reforms can create unintended spillovers that harm minority populations, with enforcement strength determining the scope for discrimination.

Feeding Fairly: Gendered Nutrition Interventions and Intra-Household Norms in Uganda  (With Teresa Molina-Millàn, Emily Ouma, and Nils Teufil)

Malnutrition is prevalent in Uganda, and approximately 28% of the children experience stunted growth. This is in part due to the limited knowledge of proper nutrition and social norms that restrict the consumption of certain foods among vulnerable groups. This paper evaluates a randomized intervention that combined gender-differentiated nutrition information sessions with a social norm component to improve dietary outcomes for women and children. We find that in the short run involving both spouses increases nutritional knowledge for both men and women, with larger gains among men. Adding the social norms module significantly reduces adherence to conservative food norms, particularly among men. It also increases reported pro-child food distribution. The combined intervention yields substantial improvements in dietary diversity and ASF consumption among women and children, compared to both the wife-only and couple-based nutrition information sessions. These effects are not driven by increased food expenditures, but by changes in intra-household allocation and reduced spending on meals consumed outside the home.

Social Norms Under Observation: Gendered Bias in Household Survey Responses

I evaluate enumerator effects in survey responses and intervention outcomes. Using randomized assignment of enumerators to 2,400 respondents in a gender differentiated nutrition intervention, I causally identify three key results. First, enumerator effects vary systematically with question type, with minimal impact on objective measures, but substantial influence on sensitive topics like household activities and social norms. Second, gender matching produces asymmetric effects on dietary norms, taboos, and participation in household activities. While male-male pairs report more conservative attitudes, matched females express more progressive views, each relative to their respective unmatched pairs. Third, enumerator-respondent gender dynamics significantly moderate intervention effectiveness, with male respondents interviewed by male enumerators showing a substantial reduction in nutrition intervention benefits compared to those interviewed by females. Through a novel experiment, I demonstrate these results reflect a "female interviewer" effect mechanism. Overall, these results challenge conventional approaches to matching gender in household surveys and therefore have significant implications for both research methodology and policy evaluation in development contexts.

Works in progress

On the Reversal of the Gender Gap in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. (With Damien de Walque and Carolina Lopez). 

Sibling Gender and Child Labor: Evidence from Patrilineal and Matrilineal Societies.

Social Constraints to Food Consumption: A Qualitative Study in Uganda. (With Esther Achandi and Emily Ouma).