Outreach

Abstract: We examine the nature and scope of gendered work norms in Egypt by implementing three survey-based experiments among economically disadvantaged households to elucidate these norms and measure their salience. A wage‐comparison choice experiment shows that households strongly prefer that men—not women—take on additional paid work, even when this preference entails substantial forgone income for the household. When offered identical wages for equal hours of work, only 12.4 percent of respondents select the wife to take it as a first part-time job versus the husband taking it as a second part-time job. Even when her wage is double that of her husband, a clear majority still prefer that the husband works instead. These results indicate a large implicit cost that households place on women working outside the household. Two randomized vignette experiments further demonstrate that identical actions are interpreted differently depending on whether they are performed by men or women. Together, these findings emphasize the strength of gendered work norms in Egypt and reveal nuance in how they shape behavior. The findings also underscore the relevance of gender norms for designing programs affecting household work decisions and testing new approaches to promote women’s economic inclusion.

Related working paper: “Would You Rather? Household Choice between Cash Transfers or an Economic Inclusion Program” (with Daniel Gilligan, Sikandra Kurdi, and Basma Yassa), MENA Working Paper 44, Washington, DC: IFPRI, November 2024.

Abstract: Cash transfer programs are a leading form of social assistance, reaching up to 21 percent of the population in at least 68 low- and middle-income countries (World Bank 2025). Between 1980 and 2023, a total of 1.4 million papers were produced on the matter (Gentilini 2024) and more have been published since. While the design and impact of these and related programs have been closely studied (Banerjee et al. 2024), much less is known about whether or not cash transfer programs cause increases in the market price of good and services—that is, inflation. By reducing the purchasing power of money, program-driven inflation can diminish the positive impacts of cash transfers for recipients and create a negative spillover for nonrecipients, thus undermining program aims of improving social welfare. Recent literature on cash transfers and inflation is limited and often described as dichotomous: on one side, Egger et al. (2022) and other studies find little to no effect, while, on the other side, Filmer et al. (2023) find sizable and alarming inflationary effects on selected commodities. However, a closer look at these and other papers reveals that their results are less contradictory than they first appear. Rather, the whole body of the current literature is congruous with the hypothesis that cash transfers have minimal average effects on prices for most market goods; but these transfers can cause inflation where they significantly increase market demand for goods for which supply is relatively inelastic. This review proceeds as follows. We first present a simple conceptual model that illustrates the theoretical basis for this hypothesis, followed by an overview of the studies included in the review and their key differences. The next section presents a synthesis of the main findings in the existing empirical evidence. We then look at related research just outside the purview of this review. The conclusion discusses key takeaways. 

Abstract: This report summarizes ongoing analysis of overlap between school and farming calendars in Madagascar in collaboration with the World Bank office in Madagascar. Following IFPRI Discussion Paper 2235 (Allen 2024), I develop a community-based measure of overlap as the number of days that the school calendar overlaps with crop calendars that weights the relevance of each crop by the community crop share and then aggregates across crops. A policy simulation of alternative school calendars identifies early January as the best time to start Madagascar's national school calendar (assuming the same structure as the actual school calendar) to avoid overlap with peak farming periods. Further, it finds additional gains can be made to reducing overlap by decentralizing school calendars to the local level and adopting each community's overlap-minimizing calendar. Next steps in 2025 include an empirical analysis that estimates the correlation between overlap and key education outcomes that simulates the potential gains of a locally decentralized overlap-minimizing school calendar. 

Report: Impact evaluation report of Egypt’s Forsa Graduation Program

Blog: Egypt’s experience bridging cash transfers and an economic inclusion program for sustainable social protection

Related working paper: “Would You Rather? Household Choice between Cash Transfers or an Economic Inclusion Program” (with Daniel Gilligan, Sikandra Kurdi, and Basma Yassa), MENA Working Paper 44, Washington, DC: IFPRI, November 2024.

Policy Briefs: Correcting Misperceptions of Covid-19 and Improving Covid-19 Knowledge

Summary Reports: Round 1 Summary Report and Round 2 Summary Report.