@leightjessica.bsky.social
Development economist, @Yale / @UniofOxford / @MIT. Asso editor, REHO + CER. Editorial board member, BMC Public Health + PloS One. Structural transformation, agriculture, gender, IPV. Views my own
@leightjessica.bsky.socialPlus WIP on financial literacy, remittances + more - check out her work!
@leightjessica.bsky.socialA fascinating WP exploits a natural experiment in SA when social cash transfers were converted to digital form, + finds this ⬆️ women's control over financial decision-making and ⬇️ expenditure on addictive goods.
drive.google.com/fil...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialAnother paper joint w/Mwale published in WDP shows that participation in microfinance ⬇️ tolerance of domestic violence
www.sciencedirect.co...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialOne published paper in Food Security joint w/@helenwalls + team finds little evidence that agricultural input subsidies in Malawi are enhancing dietary diversity
link.springer.com/ar...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialToday's cool young researcher #econtwitter #econsky is @TeeZabula at the University of Leeds who works on topics related to agriculture, finance + gender
@leightjessica.bsky.socialNow feel more confident I'm receiving a pace of referee requests significantly above prior yrs + consistent w/AI-linked submission growth [though referee requests also grow over time organically] Mostly growth in requests from lower-ranked journals (many I've never heard of tbh)
@leightjessica.bsky.socialwith another increase when the trade is prohibited. Plus WIP on inequality, resource booms, and much more - check out his work!
@leightjessica.bsky.socialAnd a fascinating WP currently under revision for JEEA explores creation of the donkey hide trade in Brazil driven by increase Chinese demand for traditional medicine; finds that conflict over property rights for free-roaming donkeys ⬆️ crime. .
osf.io/preprints/osf...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialOne WP shows that exogenous economic shocks (legalization of genetically engineered soybean leading to ⬆️ productivity in some regions) leads incumbents to be more likely to be reelected in municipalities within Brazil that benefited more
osf.io/preprints/osf...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialAnother paper in Health Economics joint w/Corrêa Dias + Zahran shows areas more exposed to tariff reductions in Brazil show larger ⬇️ in mortality across sex + age, driven mainly by expansion of healthcare infrastructure + more capital-intensive care
onlinelibrary.wiley....
@leightjessica.bsky.socialOne published paper joint w/Heras-Recuero in the JDE shows that exposure to China's WTO entry in Brazil ⬆️ both inequality + income in more exposed regions in Brazil, shifting imports toward consumption goods (esp luxury goods)
www.sciencedirect.co...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialToday's cool young researcher #econtwitter #econsky is @viniciusccicero @DenisonU, previously @ColoradoStateU, who works on topics related to trade + development, particularly in Brazil
@leightjessica.bsky.socialMy pleasure!
@leightjessica.bsky.socialPlus WIP on roads, industrialization, + lots more - check out his work!
@leightjessica.bsky.socialAnd another fascinating paper shows that population growth in rural Kenya clusters around markets that were operating in 1970 - even though many of those markets no longer operate today
www.dropbox.com/scl/...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialWIP joint w/@paulchristianWB + team uses high-resolution data from Mozambique, shows near urban centers, land better connected to markets (uninterrupted by a river crossing) is cultivated more, but in remote rural areas, connectivity matters little
www.dropbox.com/scl/...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialAnother JDE paper w/Almas @SeleneGhisolfi @JustinSandefur estimates macroeconomic / epidemiological model of pandemic + lockdown policies, showing demography predicts laxer policies in LMICs; but basic subsistence needs may explain stricter policies
www.sciencedirect.co...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialOne publisher paper in JDE joint w/@bjorkmanmartina @a_guariso
shows that community health worker programs in Uganda ⬆️ climate resilience: infant mortality ⬆️ after low-rainfall seasons, but not in villages randomly assigned to CHWs.
www.sciencedirect.co...
@leightjessica.bsky.socialToday's cool young researcher #econtwitter #econsky is @TCarnap @UniOslo who works on a range of topics including economic geography + use of remote sensing data in developing countries
@leightjessica.bsky.socialat the exact same time it seems increasingly likely that political and regulatory forces will reshape this entire landscape (perhaps dramatically). Time for those frontier labs to hire some political scientists, I guess!