We study the impact of a nation-wide unconditional cash transfer program on labor supply in Iran. In 2011 the government started monthly deposits of cash into individual family accounts amounting to 29% of the median household income. We use panel data and fixed effects to study the causal...

The Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran is often associated with setbacks in women’s empowerment because of increased restrictions on women’s participation in the social and economic life of the country. Yet, in two important respects, rising female education and fertility decline, women’s...

The Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran is often associated with setbacks in women’s empowerment because of increased restrictions on women’s participation in the social and economic life of the country. Yet, in two important respects, rising female education and fertility decline, women’s...

Wide-ranging US sanctions against Iran in the past decade were in large part imposed to harm the living standards of ordinary Iranians in the hope that their leaders would submit to US demands to limit their nuclear program. In this study, I use extensive survey data to assess the impact of...

After a decade of pronatal policies, in 1989 the Iranian government reversed itself and launched an ambitious program to control population growth. In the subsequent 15 years the average number of births per rural woman dropped from more than seven to the replacement level. We evaluate the...

Youth Exclusion in Iran: The State of Education, Employment and Family Formation

Despite nearly three decades of revolutionary government rule in Iran poverty and inequality remain the central issues of political debate in Iran. Public dissatisfaction, as demonstrated by the electoral success of the populist candidate in the 2005 presidential election, has been widely...