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August 19, 2009
Times Restaurant Critic on Behavioral Economics
Interesting example of the endowment effect from New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/dining/19note.html?8dpc
Summing up the quirky behaviors of his dining companions over his tenure as restaurant critic for the NY Times, Bruni describes the way his fellow diners--to whom he had randomly assigned dishes to be sampled--would become protective of "their" choices, defending their quality.
August 17, 2009
Does it pay for microentrepreneurs to formalize?
The World Bank's Private Sector Development blog discusses the findings of a new study on the informal sector in Bolivia by IPA Research Affiliate David McKenzie:
August 11, 2009
Bingo for Africa
IPA field staff are used to using lotteries to determine treatment and control groups for randomized control trials. Some of our Research Affiliates have also used existing government lotteries (visas for migration to New Zealand and school vouchers in Colombia, for example) as natural field experiments.
August 11, 2009
You say plátano...
I need to give props to the Kiva Fellows, who work with many of the same microfinance institutions that partner with IPA in the field.
August 6, 2009
Freakonomics Blog: Random Lives in Northern Uganda
Check out this post in the New York Times' Freakonomics Blog Dwyer Gunn's time tagging along with the research team for the WINGS project in Uganda.
July 24, 2009
Surveying the Surveyors
I just finished piloting a survey for the Returns to Business Management Consulting project, and was often in awe of their abilities. A good surveyor can say nice to meet you, shake your hand, and five minutes later have you saying things you wouldn't share with a spouse. When I first started here, I often thought my surveyors knew a respondent from their “schooling days” (as we say in Ghana) – but when asked, their response was invariably, “No, I’ve only just met him.”
July 24, 2009
Why academic involvement in RCTs is important
There’s been more activity on the question of the importance of RCTs. Last week, Bill Easterly wrote his thoughts about randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on his blog, and Chris Blattman posted a response. Both of them seem to take the perspective that academic research should produce new theory and/or create major policy recommendations.
July 23, 2009
What to protect?
FAI Director Sendhil Mullainathan appeared as a witness in the recent U.S. Senate Banking Committee meeting “Creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency: A Cornerstone of America’s New Economic Foundation”. You can watch the hearing here (Mullainathan’s testimony starts at 151.45 mins).
July 21, 2009
Microfinance for Bankers and Investors
Beth Rhyne has been a leading thinker and writer on microfinance for two decades. One of my favorite microfinance books is her story of the evolution of financial markets in Bolivia, Mainstreaming Microfinance: How Lending to the Poor Began, Grew and Came of Age in Bolivia.
July 21, 2009
Upcoming Microfinance Events
FAI invites you to two upcoming events:
ACCION USA Microfinance Council: Domestic Microfinance Panel Discussion