research

Working Paper

1. Incentives, Management, and Public Service Delivery: Evidence from a large field experiment in Peru

   Governments often struggle to improve service quality when critical dimensions of effort are difficult to observe. In decentralized systems, central authorities can verify service provision but not the quality of frontline interactions, creating a classic asymmetric information problem. This paper examines whether incentive design can address this challenge by strengthening management practices. I study the effects of two institutional incentive schemes on the implementation and effectiveness of a municipal service delivery intervention aimed at reducing childhood anemia in Peru. Specifically, I compare a standard input-based contract with a mixed incentive contract that conditions rewards on both inputs and outcomes. Leveraging a clustered randomized controlled trial across 539 rural municipalities, I estimate the impact of these contracts on managerial practices, health service utilization, and child health outcomes. Municipalities assigned to the mixed contract increased managerial intensity: they strengthened monitoring, adopted new coordination practices with health facilities, and more actively motivated frontline workers. These changes led to higher utilization of preventive health services, increased uptake of iron supplementation, and greater engagement with the health system. However, despite these improvements in implementation, the intervention did not generate short-run reductions in childhood anemia.

   Presented at: Workshop El mundo rural en América Latina y el Caribe - CAF (2025), LACEA (2025), APPAM (2025), NEUDC (2025).

   Governments often struggle to improve service quality when critical dimensions of effort are difficult to observe. In decentralized systems, central authorities can verify service provision but not the quality of frontline interactions, creating a classic asymmetric information problem. This paper examines whether incentive design can address this challenge by strengthening management practices. I study the effects of two institutional incentive schemes on the implementation and effectiveness of a municipal service delivery intervention aimed at reducing childhood anemia in Peru. Specifically, I compare a standard input-based contract with a mixed incentive contract that conditions rewards on both inputs and outcomes. Leveraging a clustered randomized controlled trial across 539 rural municipalities, I estimate the impact of these contracts on managerial practices, health service utilization, and child health outcomes. Municipalities assigned to the mixed contract increased managerial intensity: they strengthened monitoring, adopted new coordination practices with health facilities, and more actively motivated frontline workers. These changes led to higher utilization of preventive health services, increased uptake of iron supplementation, and greater engagement with the health system. However, despite these improvements in implementation, the intervention did not generate short-run reductions in childhood anemia.

2. Gender-Based Violence in Schools and Girls’ Education: Experimental Evidence from Mozambique

   With Sofia Amaral , Aixa Garcia , Selim Gulesci , Alejandra Ramos , Micaela Sviatschi

   Gender-based violence (GBV) at schools is a pervasive problem that affects millions of adolescent girls worldwide. In partnership with the Ministry of Education in Mozambique, we developed an intervention to increase the capacity of key school personnel to address GBV and to improve students’ awareness as well as proactive behaviors. To understand the role of GBV on girls’ education, we randomized not only exposure to the intervention but also whether the student component was targeted to girls only, boys only, or both. Our findings indicate a reduction in sexual violence by teachers and school staff against girls, regardless of the targeted gender group, providing evidence of the role of improving the capacity of key school personnel to deter perpetrators. Using administrative records, we also find that in schools where the intervention encouraged proactive behavior by girls, there was an increase in their school enrollment, largely due to an increased propensity for GBV reporting by victims. Our findings suggest that effectively mitigating violence to improve girls’ schooling requires a dual approach: deterring potential perpetrators and fostering a proactive stance among victims, such as increased reporting.

   Media/Policy Mentions: VoxDev, VoxUNICEFDev, Development Impact WB Blog.

   Presented at: NBER; PacDev; UNU-WIDER; RIDGE; Econometric Society World Congress; CEPR Development Economics Annual Symposium; King’s College; African Union-AfGIL Community of Practice; Africa Chief Economist Office World Bank; Yale; Africa Gender Innovation Lab; Warwick.

   DOI Bib PDF

   Gender-based violence (GBV) at schools is a pervasive problem that affects millions of adolescent girls worldwide. In partnership with the Ministry of Education in Mozambique, we developed an intervention to increase the capacity of key school personnel to address GBV and to improve students’ awareness as well as proactive behaviors. To understand the role of GBV on girls’ education, we randomized not only exposure to the intervention but also whether the student component was targeted to girls only, boys only, or both. Our findings indicate a reduction in sexual violence by teachers and school staff against girls, regardless of the targeted gender group, providing evidence of the role of improving the capacity of key school personnel to deter perpetrators. Using administrative records, we also find that in schools where the intervention encouraged proactive behavior by girls, there was an increase in their school enrollment, largely due to an increased propensity for GBV reporting by victims. Our findings suggest that effectively mitigating violence to improve girls’ schooling requires a dual approach: deterring potential perpetrators and fostering a proactive stance among victims, such as increased reporting.

   @techreport{NBERw33203,
     keywords = { Working Paper},
     title = {Gender-Based Violence in Schools and Girls’ Education: Experimental Evidence from Mozambique},
     author = {Amaral, Sofia and Garcia, Aixa and Gulesci, Selim and Ramos, Alejandra and Sviatschi, Micaela},
     institution = {National Bureau of Economic Research},
     type = {Working Paper},
     series = {Working Paper Series},
     number = {33203},
     doi = {10.3386/w33203},
     url = {http://www.nber.org/papers/w33203},
     presented_at = {NBER; PacDev; UNU-WIDER; RIDGE; Econometric Society World Congress; CEPR Development Economics Annual Symposium; King's College; African Union-AfGIL Community of Practice; Africa Chief Economist Office World Bank; Yale; Africa Gender Innovation Lab; Warwick.},
     ordering = {  }
   }

3. Spillover Effects of School Infrastructure Upgrade: Evidence from Peru

   With Fabiola Alba-Vivar

   This paper examines a school infrastructure upgrading program and its direct and indirect impacts on enrollment, school dropout rates, and student achievement. We exploit the program’s rollout over four years before an abrupt redesign left some schools without the upgrade. Our findings suggest that schools receiving the upgrades experienced a 0.58 percentage point reduction in dropout rates. However, we observe spillover effects on nearby schools: an increase in private school closures and a decline in enrollment, predominantly affecting the public sector. Notably, reading test scores in nearby private and public schools also dropped, suggesting that the students leaving these schools were likely those with higher human capital.

   Media/Policy Mentions: Podcast Perú Debate.

   Presented at: Conferencia Internacional de Desarrollo Económico at PUCP (2023), Crime and Education Labs Seminar at University of Chicago (2025).

   PDF

   This paper examines a school infrastructure upgrading program and its direct and indirect impacts on enrollment, school dropout rates, and student achievement. We exploit the program’s rollout over four years before an abrupt redesign left some schools without the upgrade. Our findings suggest that schools receiving the upgrades experienced a 0.58 percentage point reduction in dropout rates. However, we observe spillover effects on nearby schools: an increase in private school closures and a decline in enrollment, predominantly affecting the public sector. Notably, reading test scores in nearby private and public schools also dropped, suggesting that the students leaving these schools were likely those with higher human capital.

Work in Progress

1. Targeting Shortages: The Effects of Compulsory Rural Service on Maternal and Infant Health in Peru

   With Mariel Bedoya
2. From Home to School: The Human Capital Returns to Early Health Investments

   With Mariel Bedoya
3. Crime and Human Capital Accumulation

   With Isabel Hincapie , Daniela Paz
4. Externalities and Performance-Based Transfers

   With Luigi Caloi