JOB MARKERT PAPER

“Mind the Data Gaps: An Examination of Women-Owned Enterprise Representation” (Joint with Hardy M. and Kagy G.)

Using data from 43 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, we document large variations in women-owned enterprise representation and estimates of gender gaps in enterprise performance between commonly available data sources. We provide empirical evidence that these differences are driven by variations in gender-blind sampling protocols. Women-owned enterprises are less likely to meet the sampling criteria for most widely available enterprise data and those that do are more positively selected on performance, relative to male-owned enterprises. We document differences in implied policy and research priorities; sources with higher women-owned enterprise representation point toward issues of market access, over more commonly studied barriers.

WORKING PAPERS

“Lottery-Based School Admission: Effects on Classroom Diversity and Academic Achievement”

I examine the impact of a lottery-based school admission system on socioeconomic diversity in the classroom and academic achievement in Bangladesh. In 2010, aiming to reduce the anxiety that competitive, exam-based school admission systems bring into preschoolers’ and parents’ lives, and to promote equal access to high-achieving schools, the government of Bangladesh introduced lotteries for allocating Grade 1 spots in schools in case of oversubscription. There is a variation in the timing of policy reform implementation. Exploiting the variations within schools and cohorts, and using the difference-in-differences regression model, I find that the reform enhanced the access of low socioeconomic status (SES) students to relatively high-achieving schools. One important concern is that by placing low-SES students in high-performing schools, the policy may harm high-SES students through negative peer effects, and low-SES students if they are ill-prepared for such an academic environment. I find no evidence of such adverse effects on academic outcomes at the end of elementary-level education.

"Human Capital and Transformative Entrepreneurship. Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," (joint with Nikolov, P.)

Using a “fuzzy” regression discontinuity design, we examine the short-run impacts of a large skills training program in Nepal on business ownership, business practices, and business performance. We find, approximately after twelve months of the start of the program, that the youth skill training generated a significant positive increase in business ownership of at least 8 percentage points (based on ITT estimates) and up to 30 percentage points for compliers (based on LATE estimates) from a baseline mean of 11 percent. There is an increase in sales record keeping practice among program participants compared to the control group. We also detect an average improvement of 7 to 31 percentage points (ITT and LATE estimates, respectively) in association with formal trade and business organizations. However, among the microenterprises, we find no significant positive impacts on business performance in terms of monthly business earnings and having hired employee. The overall positive impacts on business ownership and business practices seem to be driven by service and production-based businesses which are primarily operated by women – i.e., beautician, food producer, weaving and garments etc. We find that women, on average, benefit far more compared to men in terms of gaining skills, applying standard business accounting practices, and getting involved into home-based businesses.

"Strengthening Economic Rights and Women’s Entrepreneurship: The Evidence from Family Law Reform in Ethiopia"

Foundational Analysis to Close the Gender Profitability Gap (project website)

Training the Disadvantaged Youth and Labor and Marriage Market Outcomes: Evidence from RCT in Bangladesh (with Das, N. and Mahmood, S.)

The Impacts of Climate Change Induced Salinization on Worker Productivity in Bangladesh (with Shonchoy, A. and Ravindran, S.)