Publications

This study explores how changes in political power concentration influence long-term development, focusing on Brazil’s military dictatorship. It finds that municipalities with higher political concentration before the dictatorship, although poorer initially, are relatively richer in 2000. This shift is attributed to the military’s policies aimed at undermining traditional elites, fostering increased political competition, better governance, more public goods provision, and higher income levels.

[Read this paper]

This study examines India’s gender equality landscape, highlighting disparities across different empowerment measures. While civil liberties and political participation for women are strong, access to economic resources and protection from gender-based violence lag behind global averages. Despite government reforms, discrimination and violence persist, often rooted in local customs. The paper reviews economic research on gender empowerment in India and discusses emerging strategies to address gender bias.

[Read this paper]

This study explores the “kinship tax” on entrepreneurs in developing countries, pressuring them to share income and distort investment decisions. A Kenyan experiment with 361 entrepreneurs shows a third face this tax, higher for men and linked to entrepreneurial ability. Analyzing a cash transfer experiment, it finds that only male entrepreneurs not subject to this tax invest the transfers. The study estimates that kinship taxation reduces aggregate productivity among firms in the sample by one-quarter.

[Read this paper]

This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic conditions and drug use behaviors and health outcomes among urban-dwelling people who use drugs (PWUD), focusing on gender differences. Data from 2014-2018 identified five distinct socioeconomic patterns for men and women. Greater socioeconomic disadvantage was linked to frequent opioid and stimulant use, social service access, and hepatitis C positivity. The findings highlight the need for gender-inclusive, multilevel strategies to address health disparities and socioeconomic needs in PWUD.

[Read this paper]

This study explores how drug buyers and borrowers manage debt in illicit drug markets, focusing on a disadvantaged neighborhood. Interviews with 75 people who use drugs reveal strategies to protect reputation, build relationships with dealers, and negotiate credit to avoid violence. It also highlights informal credit within social networks, emphasizing reciprocity and self-control. The findings show how marginalized individuals navigate debt to meet economic and social goals while mitigating violence risk.

[Read this paper]

This study investigates the lasting impact of the US ‘Secret War’ in Laos (1964–73) on economic development. It finds that heavily bombed regions experienced lower economic growth almost fifty years later, with a 7.1% decrease in GDP per capita for each one-standard-deviation increase in bombing intensity. The study highlights persistent effects on human capital, structural transformation, and migration patterns, attributing them primarily to unexploded ordnance contamination.

[Read this paper]

This study investigates the effects of different income assistance distribution schedules on harm reduction, pharmacotherapy, and substance use service utilization among adults in Vancouver, Canada, who engage in illicit drug use. Participants were randomly assigned to existing government schedules (control), staggered single monthly payments, or split & staggered twice-monthly payments. Findings reveal increased access to substance use services for split & staggered participants but increased barriers to harm reduction for staggered and split & staggered groups. However, staggered participants experienced decreased barriers to pharmacotherapy. These results suggest that altering payment schedules could impact service access, albeit with potential complexities and barriers.

[Read this paper]

In this paper, I examine the relationship between a basic income as a policy tool and the functioning of the labour market. I focus on three key areas where a basic income has been hypothesized to relate to labour markets: (i) through altering work decisions, (ii) as a response to predicted changes in work arising from technological change and (iii) as backstop that would allow workers to demand better working conditions and higher wages. I provide answers on the role or impact of a basic income in each area in the context of the current Canadian labour market. But a key focus in the paper is on the ways we could alter our labour market models to provide a better basis for debating the impacts of policies like a basic income in the context of a goal of moving toward a more just society.

[Read this paper]