Research

“Conflict and Firms' Performance: A Global View,” (with E. Brancati, M. di Maio, A. Islam), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 10898, 2024,  Journal of Development Economics, forthcoming, 2026

“Returns to Education in the Marriage Market: Bride Price and School Reform in Egypt,” (with J. Deng, N. Elmallakh, L. Flabbi), Economic Development and Cultural Change, forthcoming, 2026

"Reassessing the Human Resources Crisis in Primary Health Care: A Review and New Evidence from 10 Sub-Saharan African Countries," (with B. Daniels, J. Das, A. Yi Chang), R&R, World Bank Research Observer

“Rethinking the Human Resource Crisis in Africa’s Health Systems: Evidence across Ten Countries,” (with Sheffel et al.), Health Policy Plan, 39:693–709, 2024

“The Medical Competence of Healthcare Providers in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 16,127 providers across 11 countries,” (with J. Das, B. Daniels, A. Yi Chang), Health Affairs Scholar, 2024

“Labor Market Transitions in post-Arab Spring Egypt,” (with J. Deng, N. Elmallakh, L. Flabbi), Middle East Development Journal, vol. 16, no. 1, 2024

“Data Transparency and GDP Growth Forecast Errors,” (with D. Lederman et al.), Journal of International Money and Finance, vol. 140, 2024

“Management Practices and Partial Government Ownership in the Middle East and North Africa Region,” (with A. Islam), Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, April 2024

“Labour Market Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the West Bank and Gaza,” (with J. Deng, N. Elmallakh, L. Flabbi), Labour, vol. 37, no. 4, 2023

“The Human Capital of Firms and the Formal Training of Workers,” (with A. Islam), IZA Journal of Development and Migration, vol. 14, no. 1, 2023

“Informality and Exclusion: Evidence from Direct Skills Measurement for Lebanon and Syria,” (with C. Abi Chartouni, M. Allouche, J. Silva), IZA Journal of Labor Policy, vol. 2:18, 2013

“Why Should We Care About Child Labor? The Education, Labor Market, and Health Consequences of Child Labor,” (with K. Beegle, R. Dehejia), Journal of Human Resources, 2009

“Does Access to Credit Improve Productivity? Evidence from Bulgarian Firms,” (with I. Love), Economics of Transition, 2008

“Pay-as-you-go Pension Systems and Strategic Fertility Choices,” (with V. Galasso, P. Profeta), International Tax and Public Finance, 2008

“Child Labor and Agricultural Shocks,” (with K. Beegle, R. Dehejia), Journal of Development Economics, vol. 81, pp. 80–96, 2006

“Development, Democracy, and Mass Killings,” (with W. Easterly, S. Kurlat), Journal of Economic Growth, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 129–156, 2006

“Family Altruism and Incentives,” Scandinavian Journal of Economics, vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 67–81, 2005

“Child Labor: The Role of Income Variability and Access to Credit across Countries,” (with R. Dehejia), Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 913–932, 2005

“Explaining Corruption: Are Open Countries Less Corrupt?,” Journal of International Development, vol. 16, pp. 851–861, 2004

“The Economics of Decentralization: A Review of the Literature and the Case of Education Provision,” Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice, October 2003

“Decentralization and Corruption: Evidence across Countries,” (with R. Fisman), Journal of Public Economics, vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 325–345, 2002

“Decentralization and Corruption: Evidence from US Federal Transfer Programs,” (with R. Fisman), Public Choice, vol. 113, no. 1–2, pp. 25–35, 2002

“Are Women Really the ‘Fairer’ Sex? Corruption and Women in Government,” (with D. Dollar, R. Fisman), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 423–429, 2001

“Independent Central Banks: Low Inflation at No Cost?” (with A. Alesina), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, vol. 85, pp. 196–200, 1995

Challenges from Conflict and Industrial Policy for Development, MENAAP Economic Update, (lead author) World Bank, 2026

Jobs and Women: Untapped Talent, Unrealized Growth, MENAAP Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2025

“Macroeconomic Policies in Egypt: Learning from Recurring Cycles to Build Resilience,” (with J. Youssef), forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Egyptian Economy, M. Mohieldin, M., M. Giugale, and R. Ramadan eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Shifting Gears: The Private Sector as an Engine of Growth in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2025

Growth in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2024

Conflict and Debt in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2024

Balancing Act: Jobs and Wages in the Middle East and North Africa When Crises Hit, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2023

Altered Destinies: The Long term Effects of Rising Prices and Food Insecurity in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2023

A New State of Mind: Greater Transparency and Accountability in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2022

Reality Check: Forecasting Growth in the Middle East and North Africa in Times of Uncertainty, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2022

“Education and Health for Inclusiveness,” (with D. Filmer, H. Rogers, N. Spatafora, and D. Emrullahu), in Cierra et al. (eds). How to achieve inclusive growth, Oxford University Press, 2022

Overconfident: How Economic and Health Fault Lines Left the Middle East and North Africa Ill-Prepared to Face COVID-19, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2021

Living with Debt: How Institutions can Chart a Path to Prosperity in the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Economic Update, (lead author), World Bank, 2021

The quality of health and education across Africa (with Andrews et al.), World Bank, 2021

The Human Capital Index 2020 Update: Human Capital in the Time of COVID-19 (lead author), World Bank, 2020

The Human Capital Project (lead co-author), World Bank, 2018

Being Fair, Faring Better: Promoting Equality of Opportunity for Marginalized Roma (lead author), World Bank, 2016

Balancing Flexibility and Worker Protection: Understanding Labor Market Duality in Poland (with K. Goraus, M. Morgandi), World Bank, 2014

Jobs For Shared Prosperity: Time for Action in the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank Regional Flagship Report (lead author), 2013

Striving for Better Jobs: The Challenge of Informality in the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank, 2012

“Bargaining for Bribes: The Role of Institutions,” (with R. Fisman), in Susan Rose-Ackerman (ed.) Economic Handbook of Corruption, 2006

Romania Local Social Service Delivery Study (with D. Ringold), World Bank Report no. 23492-RO, January 2001

"Competition and Discrimination: A Hiring Experiment with Firm Managers," (with P. Falco, A. Islam, A. Menzel), submitted, 2026

“Guaranteed. Public Sector Employment Reform and Education in Egypt” (with N. El Mallakh, L. Flabbi, M. Saleh), work in progress

" Management of Health Care Facilities and Patient Attendance during Major Disruptions: Evidence from Kenya," (with K. Andrews, F. Dal-Ri, R. Lemos, M. Macis, L. Nakhone), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 11369, 2026

"The Aggregate Costs of Gender Norms: Evidence from Egypt," (with J. Torres and F. Parro), 2026

“Extreme Weather Shocks and Firms in the Middle East and North Africa,” (with E. Zaveri, A. Islam), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 11004, 2024. 

“What can the Service Delivery Indicator Health Surveys tell us about COVID-19 preparedness?,” (with J. Sharma, K. Andrews, R. Connor), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9334, 2020

“Five Ways That SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostic Can Save Lives: A High-Level Summary of the Impact of Testing on the Covid-19 Pandemic,” (with T. Reed et al.), Research and Policy Brief no. 43, World Bank, 2020

“How Two Tests Can Help Contain COVID-19 and Revive the Economy,” (with D. de Walque, J. Friedman, A. Mattoo), Research and Policy Brief no. 29, World Bank, 2020

“Domestic Government Spending on Human Capital: A Cross-Country Analysis of Recent Trends,” (with K. Andrews, C. Avitabile), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9033, 2019

“A Socio-Economic Disaggregation of the World Bank Human Capital Index,” (with R. D’Souza, A. Kraay), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9020, 2019

“Investing in Human Capital: What Can We Learn from the World Bank's Portfolio Data?,” (with A. Mopal), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8719, 2019

“A Primer on Human Capital,” (with L. Flabbi), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 8309, 2018

“Does Informality Hurt Firms? Firm-Level, Cross-Country Evidence,” (with M. Honorati), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3115, 2008

“Corruption and Trade Tariffs, or a Case for Uniform Tariffs,” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2216, 2006

“Individual Attitudes Towards Corruption: Do Social Effects Matter?,” (with S. Paternostro, J. Rigolini), World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3122, 2003

“Gender Inequality, Income and Growth: Are Good Times Good for Women?,” (with D. Dollar), World Bank PRR Working Paper Series, no. 1, 2001