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Colored areas show places for which micro-estimates of wealth have been developed. AWE is Average Wealth Estimate. Areas shaded a darker blue have lower estimated wealth.
Credit: Blumenstock et al.
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Micro-Estimates of Wealth Released for All Low- and Middle-Income Countries for the First Time
Joshua Blumenstock (CEGA Faculty Co-Director), Guanghua Chi, Han Fang, and Sourav Chatterjee have released 'poverty maps' that construct wealth at 2.4km granularity for all 135 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The maps, which will enable more targeted and responsible policymaking, were built by applying machine learning algorithms to vast and heterogeneous data from satellites, mobile phone networks, topographic maps, as well as aggregated and de-identified connectivity data from Facebook. Estimates were further trained and calibrated using nationally-representative household survey data from 56 LMICs, then validated their accuracy using four independent sources of household survey data from eighteen countries. Read the working paper for more details and access publicly available wealth and population estimates.
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Foreign Aid for Medicine Pays Dividends
In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, CEGA Faculty Co-Director Ted Miguel urges the Biden administration to use evidence from decades of research to inform policies that prevent and treat Neglected Tropical Diseases, which affect nearly one billion of the world’s most marginalized people.
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High US Poverty is a Policy Choice
Hilary Hoynes, Faculty Director of the Opportunity Lab (O-Lab), a hub for domestic research supported by CEGA, talks to Ezra Klein from the New York Times about US inequality and the policy choices that drive it. “It is a fact that when we pay workers less and don’t have social insurance programs that, say, cover Uber and Lyft drivers, we are able to consume goods and services at lower prices,” she explains.
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India’s Voter Registration System Excludes Migrants
CEGA affiliated professor Gareth Nellis and coauthor Nikhar Gaikwad’s op-ed in The Print explains how voter registration requirements—not “opting out” or expectations of ostracism by local political machines—politically exclude migrants in India and prevent access to government benefits.
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Announcing an Algorithmic Bias Playbook
CEGA affiliated professor Ziad Obermeyer and colleagues announce the release of an Algorithmic Bias Playbook: a guide to defining, measuring, and mitigating racial and economic biases in algorithms for healthcare leaders, policymakers, and regulators. In Politico and STAT, Obermeyer explains how algorithms shaping US healthcare delivery and planning reinforce biases, affecting millions.
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SMS Reminders on Pension Savings Scale Up
Funded by CEGA’s East Africa Social Science Translation (EASST) program in 2013, EASST fellow Amos Njuguna and CEGA affiliated professor William Dow studied whether SMS reminders increased the consistency and amount of savings in a government micro-pension scheme in Kenya. Findings have prompted the Government of Kenya to incorporate targeted SMS messaging into its Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) programs.
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95% of Brazilian Studies Don’t Reproduce
Supported through a Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS) SSMART grant, George Avelino and coauthors could reproduce only 5% of quantitative articles published in five major Brazilian journals between 2012 and 2016. They provide recommendations to improve the transparency and reproducibility of research, including archiving data for published research.
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COVID-19 Contact Tracing Using Spatial Modelling
EASST fellow Vedaste Ndahindwa and coauthors published a new study that analyzes contact tracing data using spatial modelling to understand the dynamics of COVID-19 transmission and identify high-risk areas at a subnational level in Rwanda.
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Refugees Don’t Increase Violence
A new eight year study from CEGA affiliated professor Yang-Yang Zhou and coauthor Andrew Shaver demonstrates that refugees do not increase violence or civil conflict in their host communities. Using nighttime lights and expert interviews as measures of development, they find that refugee presence increases local development, which reduces conflict.
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Working Papers
- Joshua Blumenstock and coauthors release 'poverty maps' that construct wealth at 2.4km granularity for all 135 low- and middle-income countries.
- Craig McIntosh and Andrew Zeitlin benchmark a multi-dimensional child nutrition intervention against an unconditional cash transfer of equal cost.
- Vittorio Bassi, Esau Tugume, and coauthors argue that rental markets allow small firms to increase their effective scale and mechanize production.
- Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, and Michael Kremer establish that free secondary education increases education and positive health behaviors and reduces female fertility.
- Pascaline Dupas and Radhika Jain document gender disparities within a government health insurance program for 46 million low-income Indians.
- Ajay Shenoy and Laura V. Zimmermann explore how local politicians act as intermediaries between voters and party bosses in a clientelistic network.
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- Sam Fishman interviews Mercyline Kamande and Anna Kamanzi about their study on mobile money usage and the potential benefits of digital financial services in rural Rwanda.
- Supraja Parthasarathy, Vasanthi Subramonia Pillai, and Luisa Cefala explain the policy implications of a phone-based survey on informal labor markets in Chennai.
- Katie Hoeberling reflects on emerging benefits and insights from a year of forecasting on the Social Science Prediction Platform.
- Leah Bridle and Anya Marchenko highlight policy impacts from a set of randomized evaluations (RCTs) and reflect on why most studies succeeded in informing policy.
- Maya Ranganath and Jennifer Nyakinya interview EASST Fellow Anthony Mveyange about his career and experience with CEGA’s East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative (EASST).
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Visit CEGA's event page or our YouTube channel to watch videos of past events. Videos are typically posted within one week of the event date.
August 23-September 3: BITSS’ Research Transparency and Reproducibility Training (RT2)
The Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences’ (BITSS) Research Transparency and Reproducibility Training will provide participants with an overview of tools and practices for transparent and reproducible social science research. Led by leading academic researchers, the program will integrate opportunities for collaborative work and skills-building. For more information and to apply, see the event page.
October 7: Symposium on Economic Experiments in Developing Countries (SEEDEC)
FAIR at the Norwegian School of Economics and the Department of Economics at the Monash Business School will host a virtual Symposium on Economic Experiments in Developing Countries. SEEDEC brings together a community of researchers conducting lab experiments (or lab-in-the-field experiments) in low- and middle-income countries, and this year will feature keynotes by Sule Alan and Alistair Munro. For more information and to register, see the event page. |
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Hiring Short-term (Student) Research Consultant
We’re seeking a (student) research consultant to complete a rapid evidence review for interventions designed to improve early child development and youth employment outcomes among refugees and host communities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This is a five-month, part-time position, ideally for a current or recent graduate student. To apply, see the listing.
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Hiring Global Networks Intern
We’re seeking a motivated student intern to work closely with the Global Networks team. This is an opportunity for a graduate student to work part time for the last month of summer and into Fall 2021 semester. CEGA is able to offer a stipend for this position. Ideally, this intern will be based in the Bay Area and able to work a hybrid in-person and remote schedule. To apply, see the listing.
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Request for Submissions to DevEng Journal Special Issue: Cost Estimation
Development Engineering: The Journal of Engineering in Economic Development is seeking submissions for a Special Issue that explores the use of cost estimation as a tool for resource-constrained design and the evaluation of products, services and innovations intended for marginalized populations. To submit, see the announcement.
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Request for Submissions to DevEng Journal Special Issue: Geospatial Analysis
Development Engineering: The Journal of Engineering in Economic Development is seeking submissions for a Special Issue on the latest research that leverages geospatial analysis for global development. To submit, see the announcement.
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About CEGA
Research. Inspire. Change.
CEGA is the West Coast hub for research on global development. Headquartered at UC Berkeley, CEGA’s large, interdisciplinary research network—including a growing number of scholars from low- and middle-income countries—identifies and tests innovations designed to reduce poverty and promote development. Our researchers use rigorous methods as well as novel measurement tools—including wireless sensors, mobile data, and analytics—to evaluate complex programs. Through careful matchmaking, competitive grantmaking, and research dissemination activities, CEGA ensures that the research we produce is relevant, timely, and actionable to policymakers.
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