Research

Research Interests

• Development Economics

• Education

• Agriculture

• Gender 

Publications

Peer-reviewed papers

• Greater Traditionalism Predicts COVID-19 Precautionary Behaviors Across 27 Societies. With Theodore Samore et al. Accepted for publication in Scientific Reports, 2023 (forthcoming).

• Social Capital and Women's Empowerment.  With Machio Phyllis, Kimani Diana, Kariuki Patrick & Njoroge Michael. Forum for Social Economics, 1–19, 2022.

• Experimental Evidence on Scaling up Education Reforms in Kenya. With Tessa Bold, Mwangi Kimenyi, Germano Mwabu & Justin Sandefur.  Journal of Public Economics, 168, 1-20, 2018.

• Mathematics Gender Gaps in Kenya: Are Resource Differentials Between Boys and Girls to blame?  With Leopold P. Mureithi & Anthony Wambugu. Cogent Education, 5 (1), 2018: 1564163.

Book Chapters

• Institutional Challenges to Scaling up Learning in Kenya. With Tessa Bold, Mwangi Kimenyi, Germano Mwabu & Justin Sandefur.  In Laurence Chandy, Akio Hosono, Homi Kharas and Johannes Linn (ed.s), 2013, Getting to Scale: How to Bring Development Solutions to Millions of Poor People. Brookings Institution Press, US:  262-276.

Working Papers 

• Using iBeacon Technology to Track the Distribution of Development Goods in Kenya, with Jennifer Hamilton and Daniel Posner

• Smart Classrooms and Education Outcomes in Rwanda, with Aimable Nsabimana and Christine Niyizamwiyitira

Work in Progress

Understanding Gender-Specific Constraints to Agricultural Technology Adoption,  with Carly Trachtman, and Michael Murigi

Agriculture comprises 30% of Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product. Agricultural innovation is important for economic growth and poverty reduction. However, there is slow growth in agriculture which is partly due to low adoption rates of technology by smallholder farmers, who produce 75% of the total agricultural output in Kenya. One example of such a potentially profitable technology that Kenyan smallholder farmers have yet to adopt on a large scale is improved cassava varieties. Cassava is drought resistant and has less yield fluctuations compared to most cereals including maize. We hypothesize that the main reason why cassava farmers do not adopt improved cassava seeds is the lack of knowledge about their existence and their productivity. This is compared to the well-known traditional varieties that have a longer maturity period as compared to the modern varieties. We conducted a pilot study as a proof of t that l served as a “proof of concept” for a larger experimental exercise in the future. Specifically, we conducted field trials to test the viability of the treatment inventions which focus on increasing the adoption of improved cassava seeds by female farmers. That is 1) Delivering seeds directly to female farmers in various households and 2) Having local farmers’ groups choose “lead farmers” (some of whom must be female).  We have applied for funding to scale up the the experimental study.