At the Global Lab, we do not shy away from research that is challenging to undertake. In fact, we love to tackle understudied topics that impact the hardest-to-reach populations around the world. Our core evaluation work and area of expertise centers around randomized controlled trials – or RCTs – which is a rigorous research design to identify causal impacts to determine which interventions are effective and which are not. Our goal is to seek bold new solutions that can be replicated and scaled easily and cost-effectively – across the Global North and South.
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHTS
PUBLISHED AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
Scaling Up Sanitation: Evidence From an RCT in Indonesia (with L. Cameron and S. Olivia), Journal of Development Economics, Volume 138, May 2019, Pages 1-16
Drought of Opportunities: Contemporaneous and Long Term Impacts of Rainfall Shocks on Human Capital (with B. Steinberg), Journal of Political Economy, April 2017, 125(2).
Related blog: Ideas for India
Intra-household Resource Allocation: Do Parents Reduce or Reinforce Child Cognitive Ability Gaps? (with P. Frijters, D. Johnston, and M. Shields), Demography, December 2013, 50:6.
Handedness, Health and Cognitive Development: Evidence from Children in the NLSY (with D. Johnston, M. Nicholls, and M. Shields), Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A (Statistics in Society), 2012.
To Work or Not to Work? Child Development and Maternal Labor Supply (with P. Frijters, D. Johnston, and M. Shields), American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, July 2009, 1(3): 97-110.
Nature’s Experiment? Handedness and Early Childhood Development (with D. Johnston, M. Nicholls, and M. Shields), Demography, May 2009, 46(2): 281-302.
Decriminalizing Prostitution: Implications for Sexual Violence and Public Health (with S. Cunningham), The Review of Economic Studies, July 2018, 85(3):1683–1715.
Selected Media Coverage: Vox, Slate, Washington Post, WSJ, LA Weekly, UCLA, KCRW interview, WHYY, Serious Inquiries Only podcast
Do Sex Workers Respond to Disease? Evidence from the Male Market for Sex, American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, 2013, 103(3): 445-50.
Compensated for Life: Sex Work and Disease Risk (with R. Arunachalam), Journal of Human Resources, Spring 2013, 48:345-369.
Face Value: Information and Signaling in an Illegal Market (with T. Logan), Southern Economic Journal. 2013. 79(3), 529-564.
The Prostitute’s Allure: The Return to Beauty in Commercial Sex Work (with R. Arunachalam), B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2012.
Sex Work and Infection: What’s Law Enforcement Got to Do with it? (with P. Gertler), Journal of Law and Economics, November 2011, 54.
Media Coverage: The Economist
Prostitutes and Brides? (with R. Arunachalam), American Economic Review Papers & Proceedings, May 2008, 98(2), 516-522.
Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Commercial Sex (with P. Gertler and S. Bertozzi), Journal of Political Economy, June 2005, 113(3), 518-550.
Media Coverage: NYTimes, Slate
Risk-Taking Behavior in the Wake of Natural Disasters (with L. Cameron), Journal of Human Resources, Spring 2015, 50(2): 484-515.
Media Coverage: The Huffington Post
Can Mistargeting Destroy Social Capital and Stimulate Crime? Evidence from a Cash Transfer Program in Indonesia (with L. Cameron), Economic Development and Cultural Change, January 2014, 62(2): 381-415.
WORKING PAPERS
Please email for most recent version
How Does Health Promotion Work? Evidence From The Dirty Business of Eliminating Open Defecation (with P. Gertler, M. Alzua, L. Cameron, S. Martinez, and S. Patil). NBER Working Paper 20997.
Workfare and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from India (with B. Steinberg), NBER Working Paper 21543.
Media Coverage: NBER Digest
Crimes against Morality: Unintended Consequences of Criminalizing Sex Work (with L. Cameron and J. Muz), 2016
TECHNICAL REPORTS
Impact Evaluation of a Large-Scale Rural Sanitation Project in Indonesia (with L. Cameron and S. Olivia), World Bank Policy Research Paper 6360, February 2013.
Scaling Up Rural Sanitation: Findings from the Impact Evaluation Baseline Survey in Indonesia (with L. Cameron), Water and Sanitation Project Technical Paper, November 2010.