Development Economist at University of San Francisco; Research affiliate Notre Dame & Berkeley CEGA. Lifelong attempt at Christianity with intermittent success.
Excited to present the introduction to my book released this month, #ShrewdSamaritan, posted on my blog site. Intended for ordinary people who wish to engage global poverty in ways that are both meaningful and effective.
https://t.co/xHdeNZKHlM
@scitube_social Check out this very cute but highly informative sci-tube animated cartoon with results from our clubfoot impact study in Ethiopia! @CEGA_UC@KelloggInst
Looking to change a life on @GivingTuesday? The $500 @hopewalksorg intervention to free children in LMICs from clubfoot is truly life-changing: nearly 1sd increase in human flourishing. See our August 2025 article in Health Economics & give generously: https://t.co/f0kuSlurI5
New article in @vox_dev based on our research investigating increases in infant mortality from the introduction of Nestlé infant formula into low- and middle income countries. We estimate 10.9 million infant deaths between 1960 and 2015.
https://t.co/Mxst7psr6i @CEGA_UC@USFCA
What many people don't know: recent decades have seen incredible reductions in poverty. The poverty rate has *never before* been this low in human history.
What new data is now revealing: after the setback from Covid, poverty reduction now continues!
https://t.co/RJEfQE7PRm
Compelling new article "Why do People Stay Poor?" accepted at the @QJEHarvard by Balboni, @orianabandiera, Burgess, @maitreesh, and Heil finds evidence for poverty traps and threshold asset accumulation for escape from poverty.
https://t.co/Je0QJG6mf8
My two cents FWIW: Having a field called "development economics" makes no sense. It is essentially all fields of economics related to the 84% of people in the world who don't live in high-income countries. It is good to see it gradually absorbed into the other fields of econ.
My USF colleague Alessandra Cassar's research on women's competitiveness is attracting lots of attention this week. Bottom line: women can be just as competitive as men when they are competing for their kids or sharing the winnings: @Cassar_Ale@CEGA_UC
https://t.co/2NiRDHtSZi
Super cool new paper by Blair et al. finds that messages by religious leaders promoting forgiveness in Nigeria increased reintegration of ex-Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria. @poverty_action@CEGA_UC@IDEC_usfca
https://t.co/0hRfLxKpnM
This graphic in the NYT today is striking, but what is even more so is that it is the counties in the northwest corner of the scatterplot that voted to remove Gov. Newsom in the #CaliforniaRecallElection yesterday because of his strong COVID masking and vaccine policies.
Este estudio está muy en línea con la gran mayoría de la literatura sobre el tema: la llegada de refugados de Siria de hecho tenía un efecto NEGATIVO sobre el crimen en Turquía.
Importante para Colombia en este momento, cuando la xenofobia parece ser la salida fácil.
Why I Cannot (Fully) Embrace Effective Altruism. (And discussing the Human Dignity perspective as an alternative.) New post on https://t.co/5KNsMPoOjq: https://t.co/QMoojYX7zl
- @jhaushofer and Fehr (2014) "On the psychology of poverty" https://t.co/1b3jzj4xrD
- @TravisLybbert & @BruceWydick (2018) on "Poverty, aspirations and the economics of hope" https://t.co/PU3SFH9iOi
(2/3)
Older sisters boost their younger siblings' vocabulary and motor skills.
New evidence from Kenya in "Big Sisters" by @PJakiela, @OwenOzier, @LiaFernald, & Knauer
Paper: https://t.co/zjqNjlC3z5
Summary blog post: https://t.co/3AqmlZ3ZnI
Fighting the pandemic with our hearts and our smarts: What it means to be a #ShrewdSamaritan during COVID. Piece @kentannan and I wrote for @CTmagazine appearing online today.
https://t.co/0z4qzuPQTt
Preorder my Mixtape — it’s cheaper than some of the alternatives, including Mostly Harmless Econometrics ($35 vs $40). If it does well enough, Yale may do a comic book. You thought Frank Miller’s run into Daredevil was great — just wait.