Although policymakers have increasingly turned to provider report cards as a tool to improve health care quality, existing studies provide mixed evidence on whether they influence consumer choices. We examine the effects of providing consumers with quality information in the context of fertility...

This paper describes the size of the middle class in developing Asia across countries and over time. Based on an absolute measure of the middle class of $2–$20 (2005 purchasing power parity United States dollars), it finds that between 1990 and 2008, the size of the middle class in developing...

Income growth in rural areas may be one of the greatest challenges to further poverty reduction and economic development. Using a new survey of rural Bhutanese households we investigate the short-term economic, social, and psychosocial benefits of a vocational skills training program that was...

Mandates are often used as a policy tool to decrease disparities in access to health treatments and services. The lack of insurance coverage for routine care costs associated with participating in clinical trials is often cited as a major barrier to clinical trial participation, especially for...

The widespread adoption of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) have been advocated on the premise that it will result in significant savings in electricity and reduced carbon emissions. Using a household level survey of electrical lighting and usage in Pakistan, we examine the decision to...

The design of alternative tariff structures can serve as a low-cost and effective tool in achieving higher take-up of basic services among poor households while allowing the provider to recover costs. A contingent valuation survey from the Water Supply and Sanitation Project of the Asian...

We investigate the characteristics of manufacturing firms in India that generate better quality employment and the relationship between quality employment and firm performance using multiple measures of employment quality. Larger firms tend to generally provide better quality employment...

An important health policy issue is the low rate of patient enrollment into clinical trials, which may slow down the process of clinical trials and discourage their supply, leading to delays in innovative life-saving drug treatments reaching the general population. In the US, patients’ cost of...

A household survey in Pakistan is used to examine drivers of more efficient compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) adoption and the impact of CFL adoption on the demand for lighting services. Higher price of a CFL to an incandescent bulb (IB) and limited knowledge about the life span of CFLs...