Development Economics in the Field Summer School : Program content

by Sylvie Lambert

A well-designed questionnaire is an essential piece of most field work. The objective of this module is to offer guidance for household survey questionnaire design. It will address the use of qualitative survey to insure the questionnaire will meet the research objectives, the role of carefully formulated questions to avoid introducing biases, as both framing and wording influence answers. This will be exemplified mainly through the design of the household roster and the consumption module.

Structure

• Choice of respondent, choice of wording: general principles
• Household composition: complex households
• Consumption module: misreporting, recall errors, rounding, telescoping
• Sensitive issues
• Informing questionnaire design with qualitative field work

Selected key reference

• Beegle K. et al., 2012, “Methods of household consumption measurement through surveys: Experimental results from Tanzania”, Journal of Development Economics, 98(1), Elsevier, pp 3-18.
• De Vreyer P. & Lambert S., 2021, “Inequality, poverty and the intra-household allocation of consumption in Senegal”, World Bank Economic Review, 35(2), pp 414-435.
• Deschenes S., 2022, Using List Experiments to Measure Intimate Partner Violence (IPV): Lessons from Rural Burkina Faso, mimeo.
• Grosh M. & Glewwe P., 2000, Designing Household Survey Questionnaires for Developing Countries : Lessons from 15 Years of the Living Standards Measurement Study, Washington, DC: World Bank.

by Karen Macours

This module will focus on advanced methodological as well as practical skills related to designing and implementing randomized control trials in field settings in low and middle income countries. A first lecture will focus on design trade-offs and considerations for RCTs with different objectives, building on practical examples from different sub-fields of development economics. The second lecture will start from the importance of developing a detailed theory-of-change of the randomized intervention from the start, and to use it to inform what, how and when to measure the different intermediate and final outcomes. The third lecture will zoom in on conceptual and practical considerations for power calculations.

Structure

• Design trade-offs and considerations for RCTs

Selected key references

• Athey S. & Imbens G., 2017, “The Econometrics of Randomized Experiments”, in Banerjee A. & Duflo E., Handbook of Economic Field Experiments, 1, Elsevier, pp 73-140.
• Bruhn M. & McKenzie D., 2009, “In Pursuit of Balance: Randomization in Practice in Development Field Experiments”, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1(4), pp 200-232.
• Glennerster R. & Takavarasha K., 2013, Running Randomized Evaluations: A Practical Guide, Princeton University Press.

by Suanna Oh

The goal of this module is to offer an introduction to lab-in-the-field experiments and how they are used in behavioral development. We first discuss the types of questions that can be effectively studied using lab-in-the-field experiments. We cover studies that involve setting up a simple firm to be used as a laboratory to understand the behavior of workers in rural labor markets. We also look at studies that partner with existing firms or schools to use the real-life institution as a laboratory. Finally, we consider projects that involve designing and engaging individuals in experimental games to understand their decision-making processes.

Structure

• Basics of lab-in-the-field experiments
• Setting up a mini-firm to study worker behaviors
• Using firms or schools as laboratories
• Designing experimental games and tasks

Selected key references

• Ashraf N. et al., 2020, “Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Intergenerational Investment”, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 135(2), pp 1095-1151.
• Breza E. & Chandrasekhar A., 2019, “Social networks, reputation, and commitment: evidence from a savings monitors experimen”, Econometrica, 87(1), pp 175-216.
• Supreet K. et al., 2022, Do Financial Concerns Make Workers Less Productive?, mimeo.
• Lowe M., 2021, “Types of contact: A field experiment on collaborative and adversarial caste integration”, American Economic Review, 111(6), pp 1807-44.
• Oh S., 2022, Does Identity Affect Labor Supply?, mimeo.
• Rao G., 2019, “Familiarity Does Not Breed Contempt: Diversity, Discrimination and Generality in Delhi Schools”, American Economic Review, 109(3), pp 774-809.

by Karen Macours and Denis Cogneau

Part 1: Karen Macours (1.5 hours)

Measurement experiments: this module will provide an overview of experimental methods that are used to validate measures of “hard-to-measure” outcomes, starting from an overview of the advances in measurement made using measurement experiments in various sub-fields of development economics, and discussing the statistical tools for analysis of such experiments, and opening up towards new topics with open measurement questions.

Part 2: Denis Cogneau (3 hours)

Building on personal teaching experience, Denis Cogneau will organize playful team works around important issues for the measurement of development outcomes like welfare, income inequality, health, or education. These issues will include concepts, axiomatics, quality control, and sampling.

by Oliver Vanden Eynde

Data on the implementation of government programs or policies are extremely valuable sources of information for development economists. This module explains how such data can be collected, how they can be digitized if necessary, which challenges administrative data may present in terms of quality, and how they can be matched to other data sources. The module will illustrate these topics on the basis of recent work in development economics that relies on administrative data.

Structure

• Collecting “primary” administrative data: official requests, scraping online data
• Digitization of archival sources
• Data reliability
• Matching administrative data

Selected key reference

• Dokeniya A., 2013, Implementing Right to Information: lessons from experience, Washington, DC: World Bank.
• Lehne J., Shapiro J. & Vanden Eynde O., 2018, “Building connections: Political corruption and road construction in India”, Journal of Development Economics, 131(C), Elsevier, pp 62-78.
• Kuhn P., Moradi A. & Vanden Eynde O., 2018, “Trickle-down Ethnic Politics: Drunk and Absent in the Kenya Police Force (1957-1970)”, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 10(3), pp 388-417.
• Vanden Eynde O. & Wren-Lewis L., 2020, Complementarities in Infrastructure: Evidence from Rural India, PSE Working Papers N°2021-29.

by Sylvie Lambert

A first session will be dedicated to the presentation of ethical principles guiding field work and RCT, to the identification of risks for the subjects and the best practices to limit those risks, obtaining IRB. The second session will be dedicated to teamwork on practical cases.

Selected key references

Two chapters from The Oxford Handbook on Professional Economic Ethics:

• Glennerster R. & Powers S., 2013, “Balancing Risk and Benefit: Ethical Tradeoffs in Running Randomized Evaluations”
• Alderman H. et al., 2016, “Conducting Ethical Economic Research: Complications from the Field”

by Pierre Bachas (World Bank)

Based on his experience at the World Bank’s Research Department, Pierre Bachas will discuss how public policy evaluation and working with government agencies is conducted in a large multilateral institution. He will also discuss the type of work and research being conducted at the World Bank, and the work opportunities and career path in international institutions.