This paper breaks new ground in the literature on bioprospecting by evaluating the local welfare effects associated with the successful bioprospecting-driven commercialization of argan oil in southwestern Morocco. The principal finding is that even when locals appear well-positioned to reap the...

There has been considerable opposition to the 2002 Winter Olympics, to be held in the Salt Lake City metro area. This opposition stems primarily from fears of increased population growth due to the international attention. Proponents maintain that the Games will enhance the quality and quantity...

Temporal climate risk weighs heavily on many of the world's poor. Model-based climate forecasts could benefit such populations, provided recipients use forecast information to update climate expectations. We test whether pastoralists in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya update their...

Technology-driven gains in agricultural productivity and profitability can dramatically improve quality of life for the rural poor in developing countries. Extension efforts to disseminate agricultural technologies typically assume that farmers learn from early adopters who catalyze the...

Early childhood nutrition can have long-term impacts on human capital outcomes. Besides direct biological effects, parents' perceptions of exogenous nutrition shocks’ impacts and their adjustments in subsequent investments, can amplify these direct effects on long-run outcomes. Understanding...

Market-based approaches to biodiversity conservation gained popularity in the 1990s. The success of these strategies hinges on, first, the successful creation or expansion of target markets and, second, the beneficial involvement of local stakeholders in these markets so that improved incentives...

Ecotourism, bioprospecting and non-timber product marketing have been promoted recently as market-based instruments for environment protection, but without sound understanding of the resulting net conservation effects. We present evidence on the local conservation effects of recent argan oil...

Traditionally focused on external constraints, economists are increasingly recognizing the importance of internal constraints that reflect perceptions as much as reality. Perceived self-efficacy (PSE)—individuals’ perception of their domain-specific capabilities—fundamentally shapes these...

Utilizing a multi-year, spatially diversified randomized controlled trial spanning two African countries, this paper explores whether bundled genetic and financial technologies can boost the resilience and productivity of small-scale farmers who are exposed to significant risk. The analysis...

Ubiquitous mobile phone ownership makes phone surveying an attractive method of low-cost data collection. We explore differences between in-person and phone survey measures of agricultural production collected for an impact evaluation in India. Phone responses have greater mean and variance, a...