This paper reviews the recent problems of the opening of Japan's rice market and evaluates the Japanese government's rice policy from both an economic and political viewpoint. The Japanese government made strenuous resistance to the opening of Japan's rice market during the negotiations on...

Short-cycle higher education programs (SCPs) can play a central role in skill development and higher education expansion, yet their quality varies greatly within and among countries. In this paper we explore the relationship between programs' practices and inputs (quality determinants) and...

The potential benefits of demand side interventions may leak into the profits of suppliers whenever there is market power. In those situations, governments could attempt to regulate the market or to increase competition. We provide the first experimental evidence on the effect of increased...

This paper summarizes the findings from the first randomized evaluation of a job training program in Latin America. Between 2001 and 2005 the government of the Dominican Republic operated a subsidized training program for low-income youth in urban areas. The program featured several weeks of...

We study the interaction between job and soft skills training on expectations and labor market outcomes in the context of a youth training program in the Dominican Republic. Program applicants were randomly assigned to one of 3 modalities: a full treatment consisting of hard and soft skills...

This paper uses a natural field experiment to examine the effectiveness of specific nudges on tax compliance amongst firms and the self-employed in the Dominican Republic. In collaboration with the Dominican Republic's tax authority, we designed messages for more than 28,000 self-employed...

In modern economies, when debt and trust issues arise, a partial forgiveness policy is often the solution to induce payment and increase disclosure. For their part, governments around the globe continue to use tax amnesties as a strategy to allow debtors to make amends for past misdeeds in...

Mangroves provide vital ecosystem services like storm surge protection and carbon sequestration, but their coverage is rapidly declining. This study evaluates an environmental education program in the Dominican Republic, targeting children's attitudes, knowledge, behaviors, and willingness to...

Many new products presumed to be privately beneficial to the poor have a high price elasticity of demand and ultimately zero take-up rate at market price. This has led governments and donors to provide subsidies to increase take-up, with the concern of trying to limit their cost. In this study,...

We estimate the impact of weather variation on agricultural output in Indonesia by examining the impact of local rainfall shocks on rice output at the district level. Our analysis makes use of local meteorological data on rainfall in combination with government administrative data on...