Publications

UNDER REVIEW

Business or job skill training? Experimental evidence from young women in Liberia. With Chakravarty S, Lundberg M and Stehl J (2024).   Submitted

More loans, better skills, larger networks: Randomized evidence from enhancing savings groups in Afghanistan. With Chakravarty S, Hadock S, and Morton M (2024).   Submitted   AEA RCT Registry: AEARCTR-0004035.

Breaking barriers, building resilience: Empowering South Asian women against climate crises. (2024) Grant application submitted to DFG, in cooperation with the  World Bank's SAR Gender Innovation Lab

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS 

Herrmann T, Leckcivilize A, Zenker J (2021). The impact of cash transfers on child outcomes in rural Thailand: Evidence from a social pension reform. Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Vol 19 (2021). 

Wagener A and Zenker J (2020). Decoupled but not neutral: The effects of counter-cyclical cash transfers on investment and incomes in rural Thailand.  American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 103 (5).

Chakravarty S, Lundberg M, Nikolov P, Zenker J (2019). Vocational training programs and youth labor market outcomes: Evidence from Nepal.  Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 136 (2019).

Minasyan A, Zenker J (first authors), Klasen S, Vollmer S (2019). The gender gap in education and how it affects economic growth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Development, Vol. 122 (2019).

Zenker J, Wagener A, Vollmer S (2018). Better knowledge need not affect behavior: A randomized evaluation of the demand for lottery tickets in rural Thailand. World Bank Economic Review, Vol 32 (3).

Steinert JI, Zenker J, Filipiak U, Movsisyan A, Cluver L, Shenderovich Y (2018). Do saving promotion interventions help alleviate poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa? A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Development, Vol. 104 (2018). 

Steinert JI, Movsisyan A, Zenker J, Filipiak U, Shenderovich Y (2016). Saving promotion interventions for improving savings behavior and reducing poverty in low-and middle income countries: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Campbell Systematic Reviews, Vol 12.  

Ahrens J, Schweickert R, Zenker J (2015). Varieties of capitalism and government spending in developed and developing countries. Journal of Economic Development, Vol. 40 (1).

WORK IN PROGRESS

Targeting training to improve cost-effectiveness: Machine learning inference on heterogeneous treatment effects. With Stehl J.   Working paper

Can cash transfers improve trust in fragile states? Experimental evidence from piloting a social security system in Afghanistan. With Chakravarty S, Das S, and Morton M.    Working paper

Resilience against droughts: Randomized evidence from a sustainable cash-for-work program in rural Afghanistan. With Ceretti V and Knippenberg E.   Pre-analysis plan

Buy me a future: Transactional sex as a consequence of skill training.    Working paper

Extremist insurgency, western influence, and women's agency. With Langlotz S and Carballo Madrigal L.   Data collection ongoing

Men waste cash? A meta-anlysis on child outcomes. With Everline M.   Data collection ongoing

Long-term effects of a short-lived rice price insurance. With Grotzfeld J.   Working paper

Flush me: Empowering young women to choose safer toilets in Liberia.    Work in progress

POLICY PAPERS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Zenker J, Steinert JI (2017). Does savings promotion help women in Sub-Saharan Africa to save, invest, and increase consumption? GrOW G2E Policy Brief, 6.

Chakravarty, S; Lundberg, M; Nikolov, P; Zenker, J. (2015). The Role of Training Programs for Youth Employment in Nepal: Impact Evaluation Report on the Employment Fund. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 7656. 

Zenker J (2011) Staatsverschuldung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Theoretische Grundlagen - Praktische Probleme. Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge der Universität Potsdam, 64.

PRESENTATION OF MY WORK

My research was invited for presentation at numerous conferences and department seminars, including a seminar at Harvard Centre for Population and Development Studies, the annual conferences of the North East Universities Development Consortium (NEUDC), European Economic Association (EEA), German Economic Association (VfS), and the German Development Economics Group (AEL), as well as the annual World Bank Conference for Development Economics (ABCDE).