Economics

Corruption in government partly accounts for the slow economic and social progress in many parts of the world. This research will use two projects to investigate how best to efficiently decrease corruption in government contracting. Governments have limited capacity to monitor all aspects of government activity, hence they rely on citizens volunteering information to fight corruption. However, citizens have their own interests and may not possess the same training and capabilities as government workers.

Place-based job policies, such as informal neighborhood job search, are common tools to promote local job growth and reduce regional economic inequality. It is however not clear what makes a neighborhood good for job search. This research project will study one such mechanism---the use of neighbor networks in job search. It explores which type of neighborhood---segregated or integrated, by race and by education---is more conducive to a successful job search. Disentangling the neighborhood effects on job search is difficult partly because people self-select into neighborhoods.

This project will conduct a randomized control trial on the determinants of adoption of an energy-efficient technology in the Bangladeshi manufacturing sector. The technology is a new motor for stitching machines, called a “servo” motor, which uses about 75% less electricity than traditional “clutch” motors. We will provide information about the servo motors in varying intensities to managers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the leather goods and footwear industry.