Barriers to Financial Access

One of the studies I’m working on (Informative Advertising and Spillovers) partially involves studying ways to encourage people to save more.  Consequently, I’ve been thinking a lot about why people don’t save more and, in particular, why so few people in the developing world have formal bank accounts. One interesting explanation I’ve heard recently from [...]

Stapling at Midnight

So, two nights ago the current and future IPA Philippines country directors (i.e. my current and future bosses) were in Cagayan.  We made the mistake of taking a taxi to a somewhat remote restaurant.  After dinner we found out that this restaurant was not exactly the best place from which to catch a taxi back [...]

Survey Update

Overall, surveying is going well so far. It turns out, 4 weeks of surveyor training and survey testing results in a) good surveyors and b) relatively few survey instrument problems.

The best branded company in the world?

Cashewman asks “What is coke doing right?” while posting a picture of two shepherds drinking coca-cola in Ethiopia.  I have also been amazed by the strength of the coca-cola brand and the availability of coca-cola in the developing world. The picture above shows 3 storefronts in Cagayan de Oro.  These coke signs are ubiquitous throughout [...]