CV Research Teaching Main

Research Interest: Industrial Organization, Development Economics Papers: “The Value of Free Water: Analyzing South Africa’s Free Basic Water Policy” (Job Market Paper) This paper analyzes South Africa's Free Basic Water Policy, under which households receive a free water allowance equal to the World Health Organization's recommended minimum of 6 kiloliters per month. I structurally estimate residential water demand, evaluate the welfare effects of free water, and provide optimal price schedules derived from a social planner's problem. I use a unique dataset of monthly metered billing data for 60,000 households for 2002-2008 from a particularly disadvantaged suburb of Pretoria. The dataset contains rich price variation across 18 different nonlinear tariff schedules, and includes a policy experiment which removed the free allowance. I find that without government subsidy, the mean monthly consumption would decrease from 12.6 to 5.6 kiloliters, which is below the clean water consumption recommended by the WHO. However, it is possible to reallocate the current subsidy to form an optimal tariff without a free allowance, which would increase welfare while leaving the water provider's revenue unchanged. This optimal tariff would also reduce the number of households consuming below the WHO-recommended level. “Family Financing and Productivity among Small Manufacturing Firms in Ghana” This paper argues that family financing through loans for investment or intermediate input purchases may allow relatively unproductive firms to stay in the market, reducing average productivity in the economy. Evidence from the Ghanaian Manufacturing Survey 1991-1998 is consistent with this hypothesis. I present reduced form estimates as well as a dynamic model which I estimate structurally using simulation methods. The counterfactual analysis with no family financing indicates an average productivity gain of 15% relative to a situation where all firms have access to family loans. The data shows that improving formal lending reduces the availability of family loans, suggesting an additional channel through which improving credit market conditions may increase productivity in developing economies. Work in Progress: “Language as a Network: Evidence from Indonesia” (with Tolga Umut Kuzubas) [Abstract] “Soil Quality and Development in Africa” (with Francesco Caselli)