Standard models of investment predict that credit-constrained firms should grow rapidly when given additional capital, and that how this capital is provided should not affect decisions to invest in the business or consume the capital. The authors randomly gave cash and in-kind grants to male-...

Standard models of investment predict that credit-constrained firms should grow rapidly when given additional capital, and that how this capital is provided should not affect decisions to invest in the business or consume the capital. We randomly gave cash and in-kind grants to male- and...

When members of a committee have incentives to agree with each other, they over-weight public information: this can generate status quo bias.  We test this hypothesis using a novel field experiment -  a large debate tournament with random assignment of judges to committees.  To analyse our...

Standard models often predict that people should either demand to save or demand to borrow, but not both. We hypothesise instead that saving and borrowing among microfinance clients are substitutes, satisfying the same underlying demand: for a regular schedule of deposits and a lump-sum...

We gave US$1,000 cash prizes to winners of a business ideas competition in Africa. The competition, entitled ‘Aspire’, is intended to attract young individuals aspiring to become entrepreneurs. Participants were ranked by panels of judges composed of established entrepreneurs. Each panel...

We run a novel field experiment to link managers of African manufacturing firms.  The experiment features exogenous link formation, exogenous seeding of information and exogenous assignment to treatment and placebo.  We study the impact of the experiment on firm business practices outside of...

We gave US$1,000 cash prizes to winners of a business ideas competition in Africa.  The competition, entitled 'Aspire' is intended to attract young individuals aspiring to become entrepreneurs.  Participants were ranked by panels of judges composed of established entrepreneurs.  Each panel...

Standard models often predict that people should either demand to save or demand to borrow, but not both.  We hypothesise instead that saving and borrowing among microfinance clients are substitutes, satisfying the same underlying demand: for a regular schedule of deposits and a lump-sum...

A large food multinational wishes to help micro-distributors in its supply chain with the financing of a productive asset. Collaborating with the firm in Kenya, we conduct a field experiment to compare asset financing under a traditional debt contract to three alternatives that provide a greater...