In low-income communities, pressure to share income with others may disincentivize work, distorting labor supply. We document that across countries, social groups that undertake more interpersonal transfers work fewer hours. Using a field experiment, we enable piece-rate factory workers in Côte...

In low-income communities in both rich and poor countries, redistributive transfers within kin and social networks are frequent. Such arrangements may distort labor supply - acting as a "social tax" that dampens the incentive to work. We document that across countries, from Cote d'Ivoire to the...

Women farmers in the Western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bear the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work. Women spend less time than men on their plots and more time on domestic work. The authors use a combination of consultations in the field, desk research, and primary data...

Improving women's agency, namely their ability to define goals and act on them, is crucial for advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women. Yet, existing frameworks for women's agency measurement-both disorganized and partial-provide a fragmented understanding of the constraints women...

Child marriage is recognized as a major burden in low-income countries, with severe consequences on women's life trajectories. It is particularly pervasive in Niger, where middle school enrollment for girls is low, and dropouts are high. In the context of a multi-sectoral World Bank project,...