Working Papers

• Data Availability and the Geography of Economic Research

In 1984, USAID launched the Demographic and Health Surveys program, an international effort to improve data on health and fertility in the developing world. I leverage the program's staggered introduction across countries, evaluating its effects on the geography of economic research. The DHS expanded the geographic coverage of economics, increasing the likelihood of a publication on a country in a given year by 7 percentage points, 26% of the control mean. However, it decreased the likelihood of a publication with a local coauthor. These results suggest that access to data opens research opportunities in neglected regions, but reduces reliance on local collaboration.

• How J-PAL and IPA Changed Economic Research
  [Draft available upon request]

I evaluate the growth of J-PAL and IPA regional offices on the spread of randomized controlled trials in economic research. The introduction of a J-PAL (IPA) office to a country raises the likelihood an RCT is published on it in a given year by 40 (25) percentage points. In levels, this effect corresponds to an increase of 3.27 (0.73) published RCTs. For J-PAL, nearly half this effect is driven by RCTs in health and education, while for IPA, agriculture, health, and education contribute approximately equally. Office openings do not crowd out experimental research in neighboring countries, and less than half of estimated effects is driven by researchers at “top 10” economics departments in the U.S. and Europe.