Jonathan Robinson
Professor of Economics and Chair
Department of Economics
UC Santa Cruz
457 Engineering 2
Santa Cruz, CA 95064
jmrtwo@ucsc.edu
Welcome to my webpage! I am a development economist and most of my projects are field experiments in rural Africa. My recent research focuses on market access for farmers, and on evaluating the effect of financial access.
You can find my CV here.
Working papers
“The Dynamic Effects of Cash Transfers to Agricultural Households” with Shilpa Aggarwal, Jenny Aker, Dahyeon Jeong, Naresh Kumar, David Sungho Park, and Alan Spearot. April 2024. Revised and resubmitted, AEJ: Applied.
Previous version that shows additional results and follows pre-analysis plan:
“The Dynamic Effects of Cash Transfers: Evidence from Rural Liberia and Malawi."
“Private but Misunderstood? Evidence on Measuring Intimate Partner Violence via Self-Interviewing in Rural Liberia and Malawi,” with David Sungho Park, Shilpa Aggarwal, Dahyeon Jeong, Naresh Kumar and Alan Spearot. Revised February 2024. Revised and resubmitted, World Bank Economic Review.
"Going the Extra Mile: Farm Subsidies and Spatial Convergence in Agricultural Input Adoption,” with Shilpa Aggarwal, Dahyeon Jeong, Rolly Kapoor, Naresh Kumar, David Sungho Park and Alan Spearot. September 2023. Reject and resubmit, Economic Journal.
“Blue Spoons: Sparking Communication about Appropriate Technology Use,” with Arun G. Chandrasekhar, Michael Kremer, João Pugliese, Jonathan Robinson and Frank Schilbach. August 2022.
Works in Progress
“The Value of Value Chains: An Experiment linking Farmers’ Cooperatives with a Maize Processor in Rwanda,” with Shilpa Aggarwal, Susan Godlonton, Ammar Kawash, Alan Spearot and Guanghong Xu.
"Green Shoots: Seeding a Market for Certified Cassava Cuttings among Cooperatives in Rwanda," with Shilpa Aggarwal, Athanase Nduwumuremyi, Youngwoo Song, Alan Spearot and Guanghong Xu.
"It’s Showtime! Improving Agricultural Productivity through TV Programming and Improved Input Access," with Shilpa Aggarwal, Francisco Ceballos and Berber Kramer.
Publications and forthcoming papers
(forthcoming) “Market Access, Trade Costs, and Technology Adoption: Evidence from Northern Tanzania,” with Shilpa Aggarwal, Brian Giera, Dahyeon Jeong and Alan Spearot. Forthcoming, Review of Economics and Statistics.
Web Appendix; Link to Surveys; Link to data
(2024) "Shortening the Path to Productive Investment: Evidence from Input Fairs and Cash Transfers in Malawi," with Shilpa Aggarwal, Dahyeon Jeong, Naresh Kumar, David Sungho Park and Alan Spearot. Journal of Development Economics 170: 103288.
(2024) “Is Digital Credit Filling a Hole or Digging a Hole? Evidence from Malawi,” with Valentina Brailovskaya and Pascaline Dupas. Economic Journal 134 (658): 457–484.
(2023) “Saving for Multiple Financial Needs: Evidence from Lockboxes and Mobile Money in Malawi,” with Shilpa Aggarwal and Valentina Brailovskaya. Review of Economics and Statistics 105 (4): 833–851.
Web Appendix; Survey and Training Modules; Link to data
(2023) “Exhaustive or Exhausting? Evidence on Respondent Fatigue in Long Surveys,” with Dahyeon Jeong, Shilpa Aggarwal, Naresh Kumar, Alan Spearot and David Sungho Park. Journal of Development Economics 161: 102992.
(2022) “COVID-19 market disruptions and food security: Evidence from households in rural Liberia and Malawi,” with Shilpa Aggarwal, Dahyeon Jeong, Naresh Kumar, David Sungho Park and Alan Spearot. PLoS ONE 17 (8): e0271488.
(2020) “The Daily Grind: Cash Needs, Labor Supply and Self-Control,” with Pascaline Dupas and Santiago Saavedra. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 177: 399-414.
Surveys: Daily Logbook; Weekly Recall Survey; Baseline Survey; Link to data
(2020) “Cashing In (and Out): Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Mobile Money in Malawi,” with Shilpa Aggarwal and Valentina Brailovskaya. AEA Papers and Proceedings 110: 599-604.
Web Appendix; Survey and Training Modules; Link to data (ICPSR)
(2020) “Decentralization and Efficiency of Subsidy Targeting: Evidence from Chiefs in Rural Malawi,” with Maria Pia Basurto and Pascaline Dupas. Journal of Public Economics 185: 104047
(2019) “The Effect of Savings Accounts on Interpersonal Financial Relationships: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural Kenya,” with Pascaline Dupas and Anthony Keats. Economic Journal 129 (617): 273-310.
Supplementary Appendix; Survey Modules; Link to data
(2018) “Grain Today, Gain Tomorrow: Evidence from a Storage Experiment with ROSCAs in Kenya,” with Shilpa Aggarwal and Eilin Francis. Journal of Development Economics 134: 1-15.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2018) “Banking the Unbanked? Evidence from three countries,” with Pascaline Dupas, Dean Karlan and Diego Ubfal. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 10 (2): 257-297.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2017) “Governance and the Effectiveness of Public Health Subsidies: Evidence from Ghana, Kenya and Uganda,” with Rebecca Dizon-Ross and Pascaline Dupas. Journal of Public Economics 156: 150-169.
(2016) “Challenges in Banking the Rural Poor: Evidence from Kenya's Western Province,” with Pascaline Dupas, Sarah Green, and Anthony Keats. NBER Volume African Successes: Modernization and Development, Volume 3, Sebastian Edwards, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil, editors, University of Chicago Press.
(2016) “Success in Entrepreneurship: Doing the Math,” with Michael Kremer and Olga Rostapshova. NBER Volume African Successes: Human Capital, Volume 2, Sebastian Edwards, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil, editors, University of Chicago Press.
(2014) “Minding Small Change among Small Firms in Kenya,” with Lori Beaman and Jeremy Magruder, Journal of Development Economics 108: 69-86.
(2013) “Keeping the Doctor Away: Experimental Evidence on Investment in Preventative Health Products,” with Jennifer Meredith, Sarah Walker, and Bruce Wydick, Journal of Development Economics 105: 196-210.
Supplementary Appendix; Health Script
(2013) “Experimental Evidence on the Effects of Home Computers on Academic Achievement among Schoolchildren,” with Rob Fairlie, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5 (3): 211-240.
(2013) “Why Don't the Poor Save More? Evidence from Health Savings Experiments,” with Pascaline Dupas, American Economic Review 103 (4): 1138-1171.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2013) “Behavioral Biases and Firm Behavior: Evidence from Kenyan Retail Shops,” with Michael Kremer, Jean Lee, and Olga Rostapshova, American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings Issue) 103 (3): 362-368.
(2013) “Savings Constraints and Microenterprise Development: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya,” with Pascaline Dupas, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5 (1): 163-192.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2012) “The (Hidden) Costs of Political Instability: Evidence from Kenya's 2007 Election Crisis,” with Pascaline Dupas, Journal of Development Economics 99 (2): 314-329.
(2012) “Limited Insurance Within the Household: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 4 (4): 140–164.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2012) “Risk-Coping through Sexual Networks: Evidence from Client Transfers in Kenya,” with Ethan Yeh, Journal of Human Resources 47 (1): 107-145.
(2011) “Nudging Farmers to Use Fertilizer: Theory and Experimental Evidence from Kenya,” with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, American Economic Review 101 (6): 2350-2390.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2011) “Transactional Sex as a Response to Risk in Western Kenya,” with Ethan Yeh, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 3 (1): 35-64.
Supplementary Appendix; Link to data
(2010) “Coping with Political Instability: Micro Evidence from Kenya's 2007 Election Crisis,” with Pascaline Dupas, American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings Issue) 100 (2): 120-124.
(2008) “How High are Rates of Return to Fertilizer? Evidence from Field Experiments in Kenya,” with Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer, American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings Issue) 98 (2): 482-488.
Other Writing
Digital Credit Reviews
“The Impact of Digital Credit in Developing Economies: A Review of Recent Evidence,” with Joshua Blumenstock and David Sungho Park. March 2022.
“Digital Credit: A Snapshot of the Current Landscape and Open Research Questions,” with Eilin Francis and Joshua Blumenstock. June 2017, CEGA white paper for Digital Credit Observatory (DCO).
Older papers
“Rates of Return, Optimization Failures, and Behavioral Biases: Evidence from Kenyan Retail Shops,” with Michael Kremer, Jean Lee, and Olga Rostapshova. Revised April 2016.