SA 510.104.01 Economic Development: Problem Set#3

Please select one paper from the list below, read it and answer the questions that follow.

1.   Chattopadhyah, Raghabendra, and Esther Duflo, 2004,“Women as policy makers: evidence from a randomized policy experiment in India,”Econometrica, 72(5), 1409−43

2.   Banerjee, Abhijit, Rukmini Banerji, Esther Duflo, and Stuti Khemani, 2010,“Pitfalls of participatory programs: evidence  from a randomized evaluation in education in India,” American EconomicJournal Policy, 2(1), 1−30.

3.   Duflo, E., Greenstone, M., Pande, R., & Ryan, N. (2013). Truth-telling by third-party auditors and the response of polluting firms: Experimental evidence from India. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128(4), 1499-1545.

4.   Gertler, Paul and Simone Boyce, 2001,“An experiment in incentive-based welfare: the impact of PROGRESA on health in Mexico,”

5.   Olken, Benjamin A., 2007,“Monitoring corruption: evidence from a field experiment in Indonesia,”JPE, 115(2), 200−49.

6.  Angrist, J., Bettinger, E., Bloom, E., King, E., & Kremer, M. (2002). Vouchers for private schooling in Colombia: Evidence from a randomized natural experiment. American economic review, 92(5), 1535-1558.

7.   Kremer, Michael, Edward Miguel, and Rebecca Thornton, 2009,“Incentives to learn,”Review ofEconomics and Statistics, 91(3), 437−56.

8.   Bertrand,  Marianne,  Simeon  Djankov,  Rema  Hanna,  and  Sendhil  Mullainathan,  2007, “Obtaining a driving license in India: an experimental approach to studying corruption,”QJE, 122(4), 1639−76.

9.   Cohen, Jessica, and Pascaline Dupas, 2010,“Free distribution of cost-sharing? Evidence from a randomized malaria prevention experiment,”QJE, 125(1), 1−25.

10. Ashraf, Nava, James Berry, and Jesse Shapiro, 2010,“Can higher prices stimulate product use? Evidence from a field experiment in Zambia,”American Economic Review, 100 (5), 2383−413.

Q1. Which paper did you choose?

Q2. What is the main hypothesis of the paper?

Q3. What is the experiment that is conducted – i.e. what is the study sample, how is it divided into different groups, what is the treatment?

Q4. Is the“treatment”same as what the authors want to measure the effect of? If yes, then how. If no, then why?

Q5. What is the main result or finding of the paper?