Projects

Political and economic structures are often designed to be inclusive, yet, in practice, they fail to provide citizens equitable access to services and adequate political representation. Our governance-focused research aims to understand what changes, both large and small, can help citizens hold leaders accountable, and to help those leaders provide equitable, reliable access to public goods and support the well-being of marginalized populations.

Inclusive societies protect current citizens’ well-being while ensuring our investments today build a sustainable future for later generations. Our environment-focused research asks how information and accountability tools can protect citizens from climate-related natural disasters and pollution, and more broadly, how to increase accountability for climate change mitigation in private and public sector entities.

In too many countries today, gender is the primary determinant of the economic opportunities available to women, and conservative views keep women out of the labor force, even though they want to work outside their homes. Similar norms constrain women from accessing new technology and other opportunities available to men. How can policy close these gender gaps and promote women’s active economic engagement? How do these norms evolve, and how can policy address them, more generally? Our research seeks to understand how to ensure women can stand on equal footing with men and the ways in which norms around gender and power change.

Recent initiatives have focused on ensuring poor citizens have access to formal financial institutions, but in many ways, these innovations have failed to have the transformative impacts they were once thought to guarantee. What financial inclusion initiatives enable the poor not simply to gain access to a bank account, but also to use them to improve their economic circumstances? And how should these programs – whether microfinance, digital cash transfers, or others – be designed to protect and empower traditionally marginalized groups? Our research aims to identify how financial inclusion can work for the poor, and design innovations that support the marginalized, particularly women.

The Covid-19 pandemic has done much more than jeopardized our health and economic growth: It has exposed underlying economic and social inequities, all while showcasing the precarity of economic stability for many around the world. Our Covid-19-focused research has generated timely information on the economic activities, safety net access, and well-being of vulnerable groups through the pandemic. Just as importantly, we aim to build on this work to point to how recovery efforts can not simply revert to the pre-pandemic status quo, but enable more inclusive economies and societies in the years to come.