Democratization, Elite Capture and Economic Development Andrew D. Foster and Mark R. Rosenzweig Abstract We show using a theoretical framework that embeds a voting model in a general-equilibrium model of a rural economy with two interest groups defined by land ownership that the effects of democratization – a shift from control of public resources […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 597, October 2021
Persuading Voters to Punish Corrupt Vote Buyers: Experimental Evidence from a Large-Scale Radio Campaign in India Laura Schechter and Srinivasan Vasudevan Abstract During the 2014 Indian general elections, we carried out a large-scale experiment randomizing a radio campaign highlighting the disadvantages of voting for corrupt vote-buying politicians. Official electoral data shows that the radio […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 592, June 2021
Women Left Behind: Gender Disparities in Utilization of Government Health Insurance in India Pascaline Dupas and Radhika Jain Abstract: Using administrative data on over 4 million hospital visits, we document striking gender disparities within a government health insurance program that entitles 46 million poor individuals to free hospital care in Rajasthan, India. Females account for […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 564, June 2019
Leader Identity and Coordination Sonia Bhalotra, Irma Clots-Figueras, Lakshmi Iyer, Joseph Vecci Abstract This paper examines policy effectiveness as a function of leader identity. We experimentally vary leader religious identity in a coordination game implemented in India, and focus upon citizen reactions to leader identity, controlling for leader actions. We find that minority leaders improve […]
BREAD Working Paper No. 580, June 2020
Start What You Finish! Ex ante risk and schooling investments in the presence of dynamic complementarities Andrew D. Foster, Esther Gehrke Abstract We study the relationship between risk and schooling investment in a low income setting, with a particular focus on possible ex ante effects. We first present a model that shows that such effects […]