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2nd IZA/DFID GLM-LIC Research Conference: New Research on Labor Markets in Low-Income Countries

Organizers: David Lam (University of Michigan and IZA), Maryam Naghsh Nejad (IZA)
Location:St. Catherine's College, Manor Road, Oxford, United Kingdom; Room: JCR Theatre
Date:September 29, 2016 - October 01, 2016

Event Manager:

Viola Hartmann (IZA)





We are grateful to the staff of CSAE for their valuable inputs and help in organizing this event.

Program

Thursday, September 29:

 
08:30 - 09:00   Registration
 
 
09:00 - 09:10   Welcome Remarks

David Lam
(University of Michigan and IZA)
 
 
09:10 - 10:00   Keynote Address
 
    Stefan Dercon (CSAE, Department for International Development (DFID) and IZA )
  "Economists in Policy Making"
 
 
10:00 - 10:30   Coffee Break
 
 
        Session A
  Chair: Vijaya Ramachandran (Center for Global Development)
 
10:30 - 11:10   Supreet Kaur (University of California, Berkley and IZA), Emily Breza (Columbia Business School), Yogita Shamdasani (Columbia University)
  "The Morale Effects of Pay Inequality"
 
11:10 - 11:50   Emanuela Galasso (World Bank), Kathleen Beegle (World Bank and IZA), Alejandro de la Fuente (World Bank), Jessica Goldberg (University of Maryland)
  "The Insurance Role of Public Works in Low Income Settings: The Malawi Social Action Fund"
 
11:50 - 12:30   Simone G. Schaner (Dartmouth College), Erica Field (Duke University and IZA), Rohini Pande (Harvard Kennedy School and IZA), Natalia Rigol (Harvard University), Charity Troyer Moore (Harvard Kennedy School)
  "Work(ing) for Women: Can Entitlement Reform Address Social Constraints to Labor Force Participation?"
 
 
12:45 - 13:45   Lunch
 
 
 
        Session B: Rural Labor Markets
  Chair: Witness Simbanegavi (African Economic Research Consortium (AERC))
 
13:45 - 14:25   Dave Donaldson (Stanford University), Joshua E. Blumenstock (University of California, Berkeley and IZA)
  "Local Labor Market Arbitrage: Evidence from Cell-Phones in Rwanda"
 
14:25 - 15:05   Brian Dillon (University of Washington), Peter Brummund (University of Alabama), Germano Mwabu (University of Nairobi)
  "Labor Markets and Household Enterprises: Evidence from New Nationally Representative Surveys in Five African Countries"
 
15:05 - 15:45   Admasu Shiferaw (College of William and Mary), Arjun S. Bedi (Erasmus University Rotterdam and IZA), Mans Söderbom (University of Gothenburg), Getnet Alemu Zewdu (University of Addis Ababa, Ethopia)
  "Social Insurance Reform and Labor Market Outcomes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ethiopia"
 
 
15:45 - 16:05   Coffee Break
 
 
        Session C: Data
  Chair: Francis J. Teal (University of Oxford and IZA)
 
16:05 - 16:45   Vellore Arthi (University of Essex ), Kathleen Beegle (World Bank and IZA), Joachim De Weerdt (University of Antwerp), Amparo Palacios-Lopez (World Bank)
  "Not Your Average Job: Measuring Farm Labor in Tanzania"
 
16:45 - 17:25   Matthew Sharp (University of Cape Town), Haroon Bhorat (University of Cape Town and IZA), Morne Oosthuizen (University of Cape Town), Kezia Lilenstein (University of Cape Town), Derek Yu (University of Cape Town)
  "Modelling Labor Markets in LICs with Imperfect Data"
 
 
17:25 - 17:45   Coffee Break
 
 
 
17:45 - 18:45   Panel Discussion I
  Chair: Christopher Woodruff (University of Warwick and IZA)
 
 
    Panelists:
Dave Donaldson
(Stanford University)
Douglas Gollin (University of Oxford)
Markus Goldstein (World Bank)
Witness Simbanegavi (African Economic Research Consortium (AERC))

 
 
 
19:00       Dinner at St. Catherine's College
 
 

Friday, September 30:

 
        Special Session: Are High Labor Costs a Deterrent to Employment Growth in Africa?
  Chair: Louise Fox (University of California, Berkeley)
 
09:00 - 09:30   Francis J. Teal (University of Oxford and IZA)
  "What Constrains the Demand for Labor in Firms in Sub-Saharan Africa? Some Evidence from Ghana"
 
09:30 - 10:00   Vijaya Ramachandran (Center for Global Development)
  "Does Poor Mean Cheap? A Comparative Look at Labor Costs in Africa"
 
10:00 - 10:15   Discussion by Session Chair
 
10:15 - 10:30   Floor Discussion
 
 
10:30 - 10:50   Coffee Break
 
 
        Session D: Migration
  Chair: Mathias Czaika (University of Oxford)
 
10:50 - 11:30   Taryn Dinkelman (Dartmouth College and IZA), Grace Kumchulesi (AFIDEP), Martine Mariotti (Australian National University)
  "Labor Migration, Capital Accumulation and Structural Change in Rural Labor Markets"
 
11:30 - 12:10   Carlos Vargas-Silva (University of Oxford), Sonja Fransen (University of Amsterdam), Melissa Siegel (Maastricht University)
  "The Impact of Conflict and Displacement on Education: Evidence from Burundi"
 
12:10 - 12:50   Catia Batista (Universidade Nova de Lisboa and IZA), Pedro Vicente (Universidade Nova de Lisboa)
  "Promoting Migrant Remittances Using Mobile Money: Evidence from a Field Experiment"
 
 
12:50 - 14:00   Lunch
 
 
        Session E: Transport
  Chair: Christopher Woodruff (University of Warwick and IZA)
 
14:00 - 14:40   Kate Vyborny (Duke University)
  "Women's Access to Public Transport and Labor Force Participation"
 
14:40 - 15:20   Simon Franklin (London School of Economics), Girum Abebe (EDRI), Stefano Caria (University of Oxford), Paolo Falco (OECD), Marcel Fafchamps (Stanford and IZA), Simon Quinn (University of Oxford)
  "Anonymity or Distance? Removing Obstacles to Youth Employment in Urban Africa"
 
 
15:20 - 15:40   Coffee Break
 
 
        Session F: Firms
  Chair: Dave Donaldson (Stanford University)
 
15:40 - 16:20   Markus Goldstein (World Bank)
  "Using Personal Initiative: Early Evidence from Business Training in Togo"
 
16:20 - 17:00   Christopher Woodruff (University of Warwick and IZA)
  "Building Management Hierarchies for Growth in Low-Income Countries: Understanding the Role of Supervisor Traning in the Bangladeshi Garment Sector"
 
17:00 - 17:40   Vittorio Bassi (University College London), Aisha Nansamba (BRAC)
  "Information Frictions in the Labor Market: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Uganda"
 
 
17:40 - 18:00   Coffee Break
 
 
18:00 - 19:00   Panel Discussion II
  Chair: David Lam (University of Michigan and IZA)
 
 
    Panelists:
Stefan Dercon
(DFID, CSAE and IZA)
Louise Fox (University of California, Berkeley)
Francis J. Teal (University of Oxford and IZA)
 
 
19:30       Conference Dinner at Balliol College (Fellows Dining Room), Broad Street
 
 

Saturday, October 01:

 
        Session G: Gender
  Chair: Markus Goldstein (World Bank)
 
08:45 - 09:25   Jose C. Galdo (Carleton University and IZA), Ana C. Dammert (Carleton University and IZA), Degnet Abebaw (EEPRI)
  "Child Labor and Fairtrade: Evidence from Ethiopia "
 
09:25 - 10:05   Frederic Aubery (World Bank ), John T. Giles (World Bank and IZA), David E. Sahn (Cornell University and IZA)
  "Do Apprenticeships Provide Skills Beyond the Master Trade? Evidence on Apprenticeships, Skills and the Transition to Work in Senegal."
 
10:05 - 10:45   Damir Esenaliev (SIPRI), Neil T. N. Ferguson (International Security and Development Center)
  "Indexing Job Quality and the Impact of “Bad Jobs” on Wellbeing in Kyrgyzstan"
 
 
10:45 - 11:00   Coffee Break
 
 
        Session H:
  Chair: Supreet Kaur (University of California, Berkley and IZA)
 
11:00 - 11:40   Krishna B. Kumar (RAND and IZA), Shanthi Nataraj (RAND), Minhaj Mahmud (BIGD)
  "What do Workers Value about Formal Employment? Preliminary Results from a Worker Survey in Bangladesh"
 
11:40 - 12:20   Samuel Asher (World Bank ), Karan Nagpal (University of Oxford), Paul Novosad (Dartmouth College)
  "The Cost of Remoteness: Evidence from 600,000 Indian Villages"
 
12:20 - 13:00   Brian McCaig (Wilfrid Laurier University), Nina Pavcnik (Dartmouth College and IZA)
  "Export Markets and Labor Allocation in a Low-Income Country"
 
 
13:00       Concluding Remarks

Lunch