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Author: Robin Burgess

17 results found.

EEE Working Paper

The Origins and Control of Forest Fires in the Tropics

Clare Balboni, Robin Burgess and Benjamin Olken

Pigou (1920) pointed to "uncompensated damage done to surrounding woods by sparks from railway engines" as the canonical example of an environmental externality. We study a modern corollary - tropical forest fires used f...Read more...

19 March 2021

Development Discussion Paper

Development Policy through the Lens of Social Structure

Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Erika Deserranno, Ricardo Morel, Imran Rasul and Munshi Sulaiman

This paper studies how the social structure of village economies affects policy implementation by local agents. We randomly select one of two viable candidates to deliver an agricultural extension program in rural Uganda...Read more...

29 May 2020

Development Discussion Paper

Why Do People Stay Poor?

Clare Balboni, Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Maitreesh Ghatak and Anton Heil

There are two views as to why people stay poor. The equal opportunity view emphasizes that differences in individual traits like talent or motivation make the poor choose low productivity jobs. The poverty traps view e...Read more...

9 March 2020

Development Discussion Paper

Tackling Youth Unemployment: Evidence from a Labour Market Experiment in Uganda

Livia Alfonsi, Oriana Bandiera, Vittorio Bassi, Robin Burgess, Imran Rasul, Munshi Sulaiman and Anna Vitali

We design a labour market experiment to compare demand-side and supply-side policies to tackle youth unemployment, a key issue in low-income countries. The experiment tracks 1700 workers and 1500 firms over four years to...Read more...

8 January 2018

Development Discussion Paper

Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies

Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Narayan Das, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul and Munshi Sulaiman

We study how women’s choices over labor activities in village economies correlate with poverty and whether enabling the poorest women to take on the activities of their richer counterparts can set them on a sustainable...Read more...

Revised March 2016

Development Discussion Paper

Women’s Empowerment in Action: Evidence from a Randomized Control Trial in Africa

Oriana Bandiera, Niklas Buehren, Robin Burgess, Markus Goldstein, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul and Munshi Sulaiman

Women in developing countries are disempowered relative to their contemporaries in developed countries. High youth unemployment and early marriage and childbearing interact to limit human capital investment and enforce d...Read more...

Revised June 2015

Development Discussion Paper

The Value of Democracy: Evidence from Road Building in Kenya

Robin Burgess, Remi Jedwab, Edward Miguel, Ameet Morjaria and Gerard Padro i Miquel

Ethnic favoritism is seen as antithetical to development. This paper provides credible quantifi…cation of the extent of ethnic favoritism using data on road building in Kenyan districts across the 1963-2011 period. Guide...Read more...

8 August 2013

Development Discussion Paper

Can Basic Entrepreneurship Transform the Economic Lives of the Poor?

Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Narayan Das, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul and Munshi Sulaiman

A new version of this paper has been published on August 2015 (Paper No EOPP 58). The world’s poorest people lack capital and skills and toil for others in occupations that others shun. Using a large-scale and long-ter...Read more...

Revised August 2015

Development Discussion Paper

The Political Economy of Deforestation in the Tropics

Robin Burgess, Matthew Hansen, Benjamin Olken, Peter Potapov and Stefanie Sieber

Tropical deforestation accounts for almost one-…fifth of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide and threatens the world’s most diverse ecosystems. The prevalence of illegal forest extraction in the tropics suggests that unde...Read more...

1 April 2012

Development Discussion Paper

Community Networks and Poverty Reduction Programmes: Evidence from Bangladesh

Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Selim Gulesci and Imran Rasul

Whether basic entrepreneurship can be inculcated amongst the poorest in society and serve as a route out of poverty remains an open question. We provide evidence on this issue by looking at the effects of a large-scale a...Read more...

December 2009

Development Economics Paper

The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India

Philippe Aghion, Robin Burgess, Stephen J. Redding and Fabrizio Zilibotti

This paper investigates whether the effects, on registered manufacturing out-put, employment, entry and investment, of dismantling the ‘license raj’ - a system of central controls regulating entry and production activity...Read more...

December 2005

Development Economics Paper

Do Rural Banks Matter? Evidence from the Indian Social Banking Experiment

Robin Burgess and Rohini Pande

Lack of access to finance is often cited as a key reason why poor people remain poor. This paper uses data on the Indian rural branch expansion program to provide empirial evidence on this issue. Between 1977 and 1990, t...Read more...

August 2003

Development Economics Paper

Can Labour Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India

Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess

This paper investigates whether the industrial relations climate in Indian States has affected the pattern of manufacturing growth in the period 1958-92. We show that pro-worker amendments to the Industrial Disputes Act ...Read more...

February 2002

Development Economics Paper

The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India

Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess

Gaps in welfare attainment between boys and girls in China have attracted international attention. In this paper demand analysis is used to try and uncover the factors which may be driving the emergence of the gender gap...Read more...

December 2000

Development Economics Paper

Modernisation and Son Preference

Robin Burgess and Juzhong Zhuang

Development Economics Paper

Land Reform, Poverty Reduction and Growth: Evidence from India

Timothy Besley and Robin Burgess

In recent times there has been a renewed interest in relationships between redistribution, growth and welfare. Land reforms have been central to strategies to improve the asset base of the poor in developing countries th...Read more...

October 1998

DARP Paper

Prediction and Determination of Household Permanent Income

Ramses H. Abul Naga and Robin Burgess

This paper is about the determination and prediction of permanent income in household data. Standard static welfare indicators (e.g. per capita expenditure and income) are imperfect in this respect as they typically cont...Read more...

November 1997