Under Review
Foreign Aid and the Performance of Bureaucrats (Job Market Paper)
A well-functioning bureaucracy is key to development. While significant work examines the impact of foreign aid on various development outcomes, comparably little work addresses its impact on bureaucracies. And yet, foreign aid impacts the priorities and functioning of bureaucracies across the developing world. I argue that the introduction of aid projects to bureaucracies changes financial and social aspects of work over which bureaucrats hold important preferences. As a result, bureaucrats make trade-offs between government work and aid projects. I examine this argument using survey, experimental, and interview data from nearly 600 bureaucrats across six central government ministries in Uganda. I find that bureaucrats are willing to divert effort away from core government work and towards aid projects as financial incentives on aid projects increase, suggesting that while donors can use financial incentives to boost bureaucratic performance on projects, they may simultaneously undermine bureaucratic capacity more generally.
The Effect of Government Intervention on the Operational Decisions of NGOs: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in Three Countries
with Simon Hollerbauer, Graeme Robertson, Jeremy Springman, and Erik Wibbels.
Repressive governments seek to influence the behavior of domestic NGOs with both carrots and sticks. How do these efforts shape NGO operations? We identify common actions to influence NGOs: repressive and accomodative interventions in NGO operations, positive and negative rhetoric, and cooptation. Using a survey experiment of 425 NGO directors in Cambodia, Uganda, and Serbia, we investigate how community-level variation in the prevalence of these actions shape NGO preferences over where, how, and with whom they work. As expected, government interventions shape where NGOs prefer to work, raising concerns about how NGO benefits are distributed. Additionally, cooptation isolates NGOs, making them less likely to involve the public in planning or partner with other NGOs. However, moderate repression increases NGO preferences for organizing public action, suggesting NGOs see public mobilization as an effective strategy to resist some forms of repression. Importantly, these results hold across NGOs operating in very different sectors and countries. Panel data from Cambodia documents this finding in self-reported real-world behavior. These findings shed light on how NGOs navigate democratic backsliding.
Working Papers
Chiefs, Political Participation, and Public Goods Provision in Rural Ghana
with Erik Wibbels
Traditional authorities, such as chiefs, are an integral part of service delivery, particularly in areas with low state capacity. In this paper, we investigate the role of chiefs in enhancing citizen access to governance structures and service delivery in rural Ghana. We explore how influential chiefs, specifically those who hold decision-making power in local government, increase citizen access to governance decisions and improve satisfaction with public services. Using survey data from 3,889 households across 150 districts in rural Ghana and a randomized audit of local public goods, we find that influential chiefs significantly boost citizen influence over district government decisions and satisfaction with public services, specifically in areas audited by the central government.. These findings underscore the importance of involving traditional authorities in formal governance to enhance state accountability and service delivery, particularly in rural areas.
The Political Economy of Aid Allocation in Recipient Country Bureaucracies
I examine the impact of donor funding on bureaucratic organizations within Uganda's central government. Through qualitative analysis of 64 interviews with bureaucrats across various central government ministries in Kampala, the study reveals how donor-funded projects reshape bureaucratic structures, alter incentives, and influence perceptions of aid effectiveness. The findings indicate that while bureaucrats actively seek donor funding to address resource constraints, this external support often compromises institutional autonomy, exacerbates workload pressures, and erodes collegiality. Moreover, donor projects tend to prioritize immediate, narrowly defined outcomes over long-term sustainability, leading to a misalignment with national policy priorities and undermining the development of enduring state capacity. I argue that the prevailing model of project-based aid, characterized by donor dominance in agenda-setting and rigid implementation structures, challenges the effectiveness of aid in fostering sustainable development.
Work in Progress
Perceptions of Meritocratic Recruitment and Willingness to Pay Taxes
with Diego Romero
Taxes are critical to building state capacity, promoting growth, and sustaining a welfare state. However, many developing countries struggle to ensure tax compliance and shore up tax revenues. In this paper, we will investigate how citizens’ perceptions of meritocratic recruitment and promotion practices in municipal governments affect their willingness to pay taxes. We hypothesize that non-meritocratic practices signal corruption and inefficiency, eroding public trust in government and reducing tax compliance. To test this, we will use survey, survey experimental, and administrative data across 1,500 households, 150 communities, and 30 municipalities in Guatemala. This study will demonstrate how public management practices can affect public trust and the implications for state capacity. We are currently preparing the Pre-Analysis Plan for this study.
Ongoing Projects
Refugee Perceptions of Resettlement Policy and Local Integration
with Manya Kagan, Guy Grossman, and Ibrahim Kasirye
Funded by: Displaced Livelihoods Initiative
Just 1 percent of displaced people are resettled to the 37 official resettlement countries, meaning many refugees face an uncertain future, and will spend a large part of their lives away from the homes they knew and without the possibility of resettlement. Our study examines refugees’ perceptions of resettlement criteria and how these perceptions affect their willingness to invest in local integration while living in host countries. We use Uganda, Africa’s largest refugee-hosting country, as our empirical case. We are currently undertaking an exploratory study comparing refugee perceptions with actual policies and practices related to resettlement. This involves conducting key informant interviews with officials working in organizations in the refugee resettlement space. In January, we will conduct focus group discussions with refugees living in Uganda to understand their beliefs about resettlement and their efforts at integration. We then plan to seek further funding for a two-stage randomized controlled trial (RCT) testing whether providing accurate resettlement policy information and teaching local language skills improves social and economic integration for refugees.
Clientelism and Women’s Entrepreneurship
with Diego Romero, Haru Saijo, and Ghulam Dastgir Khan
This pilot study explores how gender norms impact women's access to clientelistic networks and their engagement in corruption among African entrepreneurs. We use survey data from male and female entrepreneurs across seven African countries including Nigeria, Angola, and Senegal to assess whether higher male dominance within ethnic groups correlates with gender differences in clientelistic practices and vulnerability to corruption. Employing the Male Dominance Index (MDI) to measure group-level gender norms, the study incorporates list experiments and conjoint analyses to capture experiences with corruption and clientelism. We have launched the pilot survey in collaboration with local educational organizations.