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Data collection

I am collaborating with Evidence Action on a large scale cluster randomized trial to study issues related to the delivery of information on child nutrition to households through local volunteers in Western Kenya. This project builds up on my previous study on nutrition in Malawi (see below).

Grant Miller (Stanford), Scott Rozelle (Stanford), Sean Sylvia (Maryland), Renfu Luo and  Linxiu Zhang (Chinese Academy of Science), and I are carrying out a randomized trial that provides incentives to schools principals in China to reduce anemia and improve test-scores. The experiment involves 300 schools in the provices of Shaanxi, Qinghai, and Gansu. The first paper of this study is available through the NBER.

Together with Pedro Rosa-Dias, Marcus Holmlund and Femi Adegoke, we are studying whether and why monetary and non-monetary incentives can help to improve the retention of midwives at rural health centers in Nigeria. Within a cluster randomized trial, we are conducting several behavioral games to help us understand the mechanisms, as well as to help us with the structural models that we plan to estimate. We have used tablets to collect the first phase of the baseline, which is almost complete.

I am involved with Emla Fitzsimons, Dan Stein and Soham Sen in the evaluation of a community program to improve nutritional outcomes in Nepal. The program works by providing incentives to those communities that achieve pre-specified goals. The data collection is particularly rich and includes data on both social networks and social capital (assessed through behavioral games).

I am involved in the evaluation of the Bihar Evaluation of Social Franchising and Telemedicine (BEST) program. As part of this evaluation, we are measuring the competence and performance of health care providers in rural areas. To measure the performance, we use a mystery shopper/standardized patient methodology. We have already collected the baseline and we will be collecting the endline in the spring of 2014. The study is led by Manoj Mohanan (Duke) and includes partners from the US (Stanford University) and India (ISERDD and Sambodhi Research and Communications).

I have led a research project to study the economic effects of improving child health in Malawi (together with Emla Fitzsimons, Bansi Malde, Alice Mesnard and Sonia Lewycka). To that effect, socio-economic, health and nutritional data were collected around a cluster randomized trial of two community interventions that aimed at improving maternal and newborn care in Mchinji. The interventions were undertaken by MaiMwana, which is advised by the UCL Institute of Global Health. The data was collected using PDAs (download a presentation here). The data can be downloaded from HERE (upon registration).

I was part of a team formed by Econometría Consultores, Sistemas Especializados de Información,  and The Institute for Fiscal Studies that designed the questionnaires of the Colombian welfare programs Familias en Acción, Empleo en Acción, and Jóvenes en Acción. The data and questionnaires can be downloaded from the website of the Department of National Planning of the Colombian government. Click HERE to go to the website.