Forthcoming

Who Benefits? Experimental Evidence on Saudi Women’s Take-up of Unemployment Assistance (with Yazan Al-Karablieh and Rema Hanna). Economics Letters.

Money (Not) to Burn: Payments for Ecosystem Services to Reduce Crop Residue Burning(B. Kelsey Jack, Seema Jayachandran, and Namrata Kala). AER: Insights.

Public Information is an Incentive for Politicians: Experimental Evidence from Delhi Elections” (with Abhijit Banerjee, Nils Enevoldsen, and Michael Walton), AEJ..

2023

Understanding Rural Households’ Time Use in a Developing Setting: Validating a Low-Cost Time Use Module  (with Erica M. Field, Natalia Rigol, Simone G. Schaner, Elena M. Stacy and Charity M. Troyer Moore) Journal of Development Economics, September 2023.

2022

Modeling Fine-Grained Spatio-Temporal Pollution Maps with Low-Cost Sensors (with Shiva R. Iyer, Ananth Balashankar, William H. Aeberhard, Sujoy Bhattacharyya, Giuditta Rusconi, Lejo Jose, Nita Soans, Anant Sudarshan, and Lakshminarayanan  Subramanian) npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2022.

Indian Female Migrants Face Greater Barriers to Post-Covid Recovery than Males: Evidence from a Panel Study (with Jenna Allard, Maulik Jagnani, Yusuf Neggers, Simone Schaner, and Charity Troyer Moore) eClinicalMedicine, November 2022.

2021

“If you compete with us, we shall not marry you”: The (Mary Paley and) Alfred Marshall Lecture (with Helena Roy), NBER WP #29481 Journal of European Economic Association Dec 2021, 19(6)

On Her Own Account: How Strengthening Women’s Financial Control Impacts Labor Supply and Gender Norms (with Erica Field, Duke University; Rohini Pande, Yale University; Natalia Rigol, Harvard University; Simone Schaner, University of Southern California; Charity Troyer Moore, Yale University) NBER WP #26294. American Economic Review, 2021, 111 (7), pp. 2342-75. Online Appendix

Discussion of “Converging to Convergence” by Kremer, Willis, and You (with Nils Enevoldsen) Forthcoming, NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2021.

2020

Value for Money? Vote-Buying and Politician Accountability
(with Jessica Leight, Dana Foarta and Laura Ralston)
Journal of Public Economics,190, October 2020.
Protocols

E-governance, Accountability, and Leakage in Public Programs: Experimental Evidence from a Financial Management Reform in India,(with Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, Clement Imbert, and Santhosh Mathew), NBER WP #22803. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 12 (4), 39-72, October 2020.

Can democracy work for the poor?
Science 369 (6508), 1188-1192, September 4 2020.

2019

Women and Work in India: Descriptive Evidence and a Review of Potential Policies (with Erin Fletcher and Charity Troyer Moore)
India Policy Forum, Brookings/NCAER, 2018/19,15.

Do dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, and testosterone influence women’s depression and anxiety levels? Evidence from hair-based hormonal measures of 2105 rural Indian women (with A. Walther, C. Tsao, C. Kirschbaum, E. Field, L. Berkman)
Psychoneuroendocrinology,109, November 2019.

Household Matters: Revisiting the Returns to Capital among Female Micro-entrepreneurs (with Arielle Bernhardt, Erica Field, and Natalia Rigol)
American Economic Review: Insights,1 (2), September 2019.

2017

Why are Indian Children so Short? The Role of Birth Order and Son Preference
(with Jayachandran S)American Economic Review: 2017, 107(9), 2600-2629
Media Coverage: The New York Times | Quartz India

Moving to Opportunity or Isolation? Network Effects of a Randomized Housing Lottery in Urban India (with Barnhardt S, Field E) American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 2017; 9 (1): 1-32
Media Coverage: DNA Syndication | The Times of India | Scroll.in | Indian Express

The Personnel Economics of the Developing State
(with Finan F and Olken BA)Handbook of Economic Field Experiments: 2017, 2: 467-514.

Can Electronic Procurement Improve Infrastructure Provision? Evidence from Public Works in India and Indonesia
(with Lewis-Faupel S, Neggers Y, Olken BA)
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. 2016; 8 (3) :258-283

Friendship at Work: Can Peer Effects Catalyze Female Entrepreneurship?
(with Field E, Jayachandran S, Rigol N)
American Economic Journal: Public Policy. 2016; 8 (2): 125-153

The Long-Run Impacts of Land Regulation: Evidence from Tenancy Reform in India
(with Besley T, Leight J, Rao V)
Journal of Development Economics. 2016; 118 (1): 72-87

Microfinance: Points of Promise
(with Holland A, Field E)
In: Evolving Approaches to the Economics of Public Policy: Views of Award Winning Economists, edited by Jean Kimmel, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research; 2016. pp. 11-32
Media Coverage: The Economist | Center for Financial Inclusion

Research and Impacts of Digital Financial Services
(with Karlan D, Kendall J, Mann R, Suri T, Zinman J)
NBER Working Paper Series. September 2016.

Making Microfinance More Effective
(with Karlan D, Mann R, Kendall J, Suri T, Zinman J.)
Harvard Business Review. 2016.

2015

Lower Pollution, Longer Lives: Life Expectancy Gains if India Reduced Particulate Matter Pollution
(with Greenstone M, Nilekani J, Sudarshan A, Suganathan A, Ryan N)
Economic and Political Weekly. 2015; L (8)
Media Coverage: Vox | The Financial Express | The Times of India | Mint

2014

Do Group Dynamics Influence Social Capital Gains Among Microfinance Clients? Evidence From a Randomized Experiment in Urban India
(with Feigenberg B, Field E, Rigol N, Sarkar S)
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. August 2014; 33 (4): 932-949
Media Coverage: Center for Financial Inclusion

2013

Choice Not Genes: Probable Cause for the India-Africa Child Height Gap
(with Jayachandran S)
Economic and Political Weekly. 2013; 48 (34): 77-79
Media Coverage: The Hindu

Women in Charge
(with Topalova P)
IMF Finance & Development. 2013; 50 (2): 12-15

Truth Telling by Third Party Auditors and the Response of Polluting Firms: Experimental Evidence from India
(with Duflo E, Greenstone M, Ryan N)
Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2013; 128 (4): 1449-1498
Media Coverage: The New York Times

What Does Reputation Buy? Differentiation in a Market for Third-party Auditors
(with Duflo E, Greenstone M, Ryan N)
American Economic Review. 2013; 103 (3)

The Economic Returns to Social Interaction: Experimental Evidence from Microfinance
(with Feigenberg B, Field E)
Review of Economic Studies. 2013; 80 (4): 1459-1483
online_appendix_tables_and_figures_social_inter.pdf

Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship Among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India
(with Field E, Papp J, Rigol N)
American Economic Review. 2013; 103 (6): 2196-2226
Classic Microfinance Discourage Poor Appendix

2012

Introduction to Issue on Malnutrition
(with Jayachandran S)
CESifo Economic Studies. 2012; 58 (2): 253-255

Female Leadership Raises Aspirations and Educational Attainment for Girls: A Policy Experiment in India
(with Beaman L, Duflo E, Topalova P)
ScienceExpress. 2012; 335
Media Coverage: India West

Chapter 14: Politics as a Male Domain and Empowerment in India
(with Beaman L, Cirone A)
In: The Impact of Gender Quotas: Women’s Descriptive, Substantive, and Symbolic Representation, edited by S. Franceschet, M. Krook, and J. Piscopo. Oxford University Press; 2012

Gender Quotas and Female Leadership: A Review 
(with Ford D)
Background paper for World Bank Development Report, 2012
Media Coverage: The Guardian

Repayment Flexibility Can Reduce Financial Stress: A Randomized Control Trial with Microfinance Clients in India
(with Field E, Papp J, Park JY)
PLoS One. 2012; 7 (9): e45679

Corruption in Developing Countries
(with Olken B)
Annual Review of Economics. 2012; 4 (1): 479-509

Just Rewards? Local Politics and Public Resource Allocation in South India
(with Besley T, Rao V)
World Bank Economic Review. 2012; 26 (2)

2011

Improving Human Health Through a Market-Friendly Emissions Scheme
(with Greenstone M, Krishnan A, Ryan N, Sudarshan A)
International Seminar on Global Environment and Disaster Management: Law and Society Volume (Supreme Court of India, Ministry of Environment and Forest and Law Ministry). 2011

Can Informed Voters Enforce Better Governance? Experiments in Low Income Democracies
Annual Review of Economics. 2011; 3: 215-237

2010

Towards an Emissions Trading Scheme for Air Pollutants in India
(with Duflo E, Greenstone M, Ryan N)
2010
Media Coverage: LiveMint

Do Traditional Institutions Constrain Female Entrepreneurship? A Field Experiment on Business Training in India
(with Field E, Jayachandran S)
American Economic Review. 2010; 100 (2): 125-129

Political Reservation and Substantive Representation: Evidence from Indian Village Councils 
(with Beaman L, Duflo E, Topalova P)
In: Vol. 7. 2010th ed. Washington D.C. and New Delhi: Brookings Institution Press and The National Council of Applied Economic Research; 2010

2009

Can Political Affirmative Action for Women Reduce Gender Bias?
(Beaman L, Chattopadhyay R, Duflo E, Topalova P)
Vox. 2009

Powerful Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?
(with Beaman L, Chattopadhyay R, Duflo E, Topalova P)
Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2009; 124 (4): 1497–1540
Media Coverage: The New York Times

2008

Repayment Frequency and Default in Micro-Finance: Evidence from India
(with Field E)
Journal of European Economic Association Papers and Proceedings. 2008; 6 (2-3): 501-550
Media Coverage: The Financial Express

Segregation, Rent Control, and Riots: The Economics of Religious Conflict in an Indian City
(with Field E, Levinson M, Visara S)
American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings . 2008; 98 (2): 505-510

2007

Dams
(with Duflo E)
Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2007; 122 (2): 601-646

Large Dams in India
In: The Oxford Companion to Economics in India. Oxford University Press; 2007

Political Economy on Panchayats in South India
(with Besley T, Rao V)
Economic and Political Weekly. 2007: 661-667
Media Coverage: The Indian Express | The Caravan

Rural Credit
In: The Oxford Companion to Economics in India. Oxford University Press; 2007

Understanding Political Corruption in Low Income Countries 
In: Handbook of Development Economics, T. Schultz and J. Strauss Eds. Vol. 4.; 2007. pp 3155-3184

Coordinating Development: Can Income-based Incentive Schemes Eliminate Pareto Inferior Equilibria?
(with Bond P)
Journal of Development Economics. 2007; 83 (2)

2006

Comment on ‘Does Food Aid Harm the Poor? Household Evidence from Ethopia’.Globalization and Poverty, Edited by Ann Harrison, University of Chicago Press
2006

Profits and Politics: Coordinating Technology Adoption in Agriculture
Journal of Development Economics. 2006; 81 (2): 299-315

Review of “Annual World Bank Conference of Development Economics”
2006

2005

Institutions and Development: A View from Below
(with Udry C)
In: Proceedings of the 9th World Congress of the Econometric Society. Cambridge University Press; 2005. pp 349-403

Banking for the Poor: Evidence from India
(with Burgess R, Wong G)
Journal of the European Economics Association Papers and Proceedings. 2005; 3 (2-3): 268-278

Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment
(with Burgess R)
American Economic Review. 2005; 95 (3): 780-795
Media Coverage: This Day (Lagos) | LiveMint

Participatory Democracy in Action: Survey Evidence from India
(with Besley T, Rao V)
Journal of the European Economics Association Papers and Proceedings. 2005; 3 (2-3): 648-657
Media Coverage: The Financial Express

Unmarried Parenthood and Redistributive Politics
(with Edlund L, Haider L)
Journal of the European Economic Association. 2005; 3 (1): 95-119

2004

The Politics of Public Good Provision: Evidence from Indian Local Governments
(with Besley T, Rahman L, Rao V)
Journal of the European Economic Association Papers and Proceedings. 2004; 2 (2-3): 416-426

2003

Can Mandated Political Representation Provide Disadvantaged Minorities Policy Influence? Theory and Evidence from India 
American Economic Review. 2003; 93 (4): 1132-1151

2002

Why Have Women Become Left-Wing? The Political Gender Gap and the Decline in Marriage
(with Edlund L)
Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2002; 117 (3): 917-961