We exploit time and region variation in broadband availability in Georgian villages (settlements) to test whether high speed broadband is a skill-biased technological shock. We use an annual, nationally representative firm survey in Georgia from 2006 to 2014 and exploit the non-random phased...

E-commerce has the potential to expand market opportunities for businesses. However, it is not guaranteed. The World Development Report on Digital Dividends (World Bank 2016) highlights the importance of complementary analog support that may be needed to ensure people and businesses are able to...

The year 2000 initiated a decade of spectacular growth in the information and communication technology sector in developing countries. Almost 75 percent of the world's mobile telephone subscriptions are in low- and middle-income countries, which have also promoted exciting innovations and...

This paper investigates the causal impact of the change in Brazil's child labor law of December 1998. The change increased the minimum legal age of entry into the labor force from 14 to 16 years. The analysis uses a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the impact of this change in the...

This is the first study to investigate the short- and long-term causal effects of a child-labor ban. The study explores the law that increased the minimum employment age from 14 to 16 in Brazil in 1998, and uncovers its impact on time allocated to schooling and work in the short term and on...

A recent survey of rigorous impact evaluations of programs to help small and medium-size firms to formalize indicates that the programs do not seem to work for most informal firms. One of the few exceptions finds large effects of a tax simplification program in Brazil called SIMPLES on firms'...

How to maintain communal spaces is an important concern in many developing countries, particularly in urban environments. But what strategies can communities use to overcome the public goods problems involved in maintaining their local environment? This paper investigates whether changing the...

What strategies can communities use to overcome the public goods problem in the maintenance of communal spaces and infrastructure in urban environments? We investigate whether an intervention targeted at some key groups within the community can motivate them to make increased contributions to...

What strategies can communities use to overcome the public goods problem in the maintenance of communal spaces and infrastructure in urban environments? We investigate whether a lighttouch intervention targeted at some key groups within the community can motivate them to make increased...

This paper presents results from a randomized field experiment that examined the effects of mass media campaigns informing about a new technology on the adoption decisions of households in rural Senegal. While some communities were exposed to a campaign broadcasted on national radio that...