Women's ownership, use, and control over property matter for their well-being and agency and can influence outcomes for the second generation-women's daughters and sons. Additionally, gender gaps in property ownership induce allocative inefficiencies and foregone economic output, thus having...

This study analyzes gender differences in labor productivity in the formal private sector, using data from 128 mostly developing economies. The results reveal a sizable unconditional gap, with labor productivity being approximately 11 percent lower among female- than male-managed firms. The...

Benefit incidence analysis is an extremely popular tool to assess the distribution of benefits from government expenditure in developing countries, particularly in the social sectors. The analysis describes the welfare impact of public spending on groups of people or households, typically along...

A sizable literature claims that female labor force participation (FLFP) follows a U-shaped trend as countries develop due to structural change, education, and fertility dynamics. We show that empirical support for this secular trend is feeble and depends on the data sources used, especially GDP...

Women's property ownership matters for their well-being and agency; it can also advance economic prosperity and promote the human development of future generations. Yet, until recently, lack of data has constrained researchers from gaining a comprehensive overview of gender differences in...

The COVID-19 pandemic has struck businesses across the globe with unprecedented impacts. The world economy has been hit hard and firms have experienced a myriad of challenges, but these challenges have been heterogeneous across firms. This paper examines one important dimension of this...

As the COVID-19 pandemic led to a historic and widespread shutdown of schools across the world, including in Sub-Saharan Africa, there were general concerns that girls would be disproportionately affected. This study analyzes the effects of the pandemic on the school attendance of adolescent...

International poverty estimates for countries in Africa commonly rely on national consumer price indexes to adjust trends in nominal consumption over time for changes in the cost of living. However, the consumer price index is subject to various types of measurement bias. This paper uses Engel...