Being rich of crucial minerals might be a leading determinant of local economic development. On the other hand, intensive extraction might prove to negatively affect the health and wealth of people living close to mineral deposits and the surrounding environment. I examine the effects that local...

This paper provides evidence that the rapid increase in the demand for lithium-ion batteries has reduced the education rates of individuals living in cobalt-rich regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In contrast with other minerals, I find that children in cobalt-mining villages...

This study explores how aridity (proxied with a measure of soil potential evapotranspiration) impacts agricultural productivity and child wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Climate conditions, crop yield, and infant health measures are collected over approximately 4,000 grid cells of 0.5 x 0.5 in...

This study shows how soil aridity (proxied with a measure of soil potential evapotranspiration) impacts child wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using climate and infant health data from a grid of approximately 4,000 cells in 34 African countries, we find that infants born in arid areas are...

While much empirical work concerns job tenure, this paper introduces the concept of school tenure - the length of time one student has been in a given school. I examine whether and how school tenure impacts students' output using rich cohort data on England's secondary schools. Ordinary Least...

We introduce a new measure of stereotypes based on the principle of a multiple-price list: the elicitation of willingness to have an ethnic minority member in a team. We apply it on an example of the Roma in the Czech Republic and test on a sample of 100 students from the majority population. We...

The concept of "luxury beliefs" has gained increasing attention in recent months. It captures the idea that, as status goods become more affordable, ideology has emerged as a new way to signal status. I use a signaling game to derive a prediction related to the concept: given some beliefs are...

This paper studies public opinion in the context of strong social norms that can induce conformity and self-censorship. We present a model that highlights how social pressure can affect the public expression of opinion either through a change in publicly stated views (conformity) or by inducing...

Previous research has documented the importance and persistence of social norms, but there is limited understanding of whether they are capable of changing in the short run. Utilizing data from Sweden and Denmark, this article addresses this gap by testing whether significant local shocks may...

In the 75th year of its independence from colonial rule, India confronts grave challenges to its economic and social development and to its democracy. Civil society in India has led the achievement of development goals and civil and political rights since the Gandhian movement of the early 20th...