John Walker

Applied micro; computational econometrics in development, mental health and environment @OxfordEconDept @Oxford_CSAE. They/them🏳️‍⚧️. Personal views.

[CSAE @Oxford_CSAE]

CSAE Working Paper 'The Effects of Mental Health Interventions on Labour Market Outcomes in Low-&-Middle-Income Countries'

🖋️@kateorkin @marcjosefwitte @jhaushofer @jwalker_econ Thandi Davies Sarah Murray @JudithKBass Laura Murray Wietse Tol Vikram Patel

https://t.co/egMtjDSKKg

[NBER @nberpubs]

Psychotherapy improves economic participation for people experiencing anxiety and depression in low-and middle-income countries, from Lund, @kateorkin, Witte, Walker, Davies, @jhaushofer, Murray, Bass, Murray, Tol, and Patel https://t.co/Qo2evrCEvH

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Wrapping up, @KritikaSen_eco uses an RD of age eligibility of the South African Child Support Grant to show that cash transfers improve adolescent nutritional indicators for females but not males. But, they increase the risk of females being overweight @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Next up, Tsepang Khumalo leverages the threshold of aging out of the South African Child Support Grant to explore the impacts of loss of access to cash transfers. Aging out reduces life satisfaction and increases risk of depression @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Next up, @NKarachiwalla evaluates the effects of Mali’s national cash transfer program on psychological and wellbeing outcomes. Receiving cash reduces financial worries, modestly increases savings and productive investments & reduces impatience @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

First up in HIP3, @ashudirect follows up an RCT of the SCTP, Malawi’s national cash transfer. There is evidence against program "graduation": households that receive the transfer later, for a shorter duration, catch up to those who have had it for longer. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Wrapping up, @KibromTafere presents evidence from Ethiopia that high temperatures during the school year worsen exam performance, controlling for temperatures on the day of the exam. Male students are more affected, as are those in cooler regions. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Next up, Erin Litzow explores the impacts of environmental regulation on neighbouring countries. DID analysis shows that tightening US regulation has moved lead-acid battery recycling to Mexico, leading to worse cognitive outcomes for Mexican children. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Next up, @Woubet_K presents early work using WB enterprise data to estimate the impacts of rising temperatures on firm-level productivity. Effects are nonlinear: small increases improve productivity slightly, but large increases reduce it substantially @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Opening Natural Resources and the Environment 3, Richard Freund presents evidence from a DID in Ethiopia, showing that drought exposure increases the probability of experiencing at least mild anxiety and depression by 0.21 and 0.19 standards respectively. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Finally, Michael Walker with RCT evidence on the intergenerational impacts of deworming. Child mortality falls for children of treated individuals by 22%. Mechanism analysis indicates that adult health, education and living standards may be drivers. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Next up, Tejendra P. Singh presents evidence from Tanzania on the impact of malaria exposure on human capital. Accounting for student fixed effects, higher localized malaria prevalence in the lead up to primary school exams worsens performance by 0.03 SD. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2024

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

First up on diseases, @Aure_Lepine presents RCT data from Cameroon. Transactional sex is common and women are at high risk of HIV. Providing health insurance to affected women and dependents massively reduces the probability of HIV infection (OR = 0.1) #OxCSAE2024 @Oxford_CSAE

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Another year, another CSAE conference! I'll be live-tweeting session summaries from 17/03-19/03 #OxCSAE2024 @Oxford_CSAE

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

It's great to be back in person at #OxCSAE2023 @Oxford_CSAE

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Exciting keynote Address on Development in the Age of Austerity by Abebe Aemro Selassie @aselassie of the IMF #OxCSAE2023 @Oxford_CSAE
Stefan Dercon @gamblingondev and Hamish Low @hamishlow_econ of the University of Oxford in discussion

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

How can African governments make room for spending?
Abebe Aemro Selassie @aselassie explores the complex trade-offs that governments face in managing debt burdens and capitalizing on development opportunities, and the role of the private sector.
#OxCSAE2023 @Oxford_CSAE

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

@Mignamissi_MD explores the impacts of global value chain integration on industrialisation in Africa using panel IVs. Participation in GVCs increases industrialisation, but position matters: a higher value-add position in a GVC generates larger impacts.

@Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2023

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Leveraging a gravity-based IV approach, Blaise Gnimassoun shows that Intra-African migration increases measures of labour productivity. This effect is driven by improvements in the services sector.
#OxCSAE2023 @Oxford_CSAE

[John Walker @jwalker_econ]

Can financial inclusion mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19?
@Adedeji_Adenira uses a triple dif-in-dif to show that financial inclusion did not materially insulate Nigerian households from the substantial food security impacts of COVID-19. @Oxford_CSAE #OxCSAE2023