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Nava Ashraf
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Harvard University, Department of Economics, expected 2005
MA, Harvard University, Department of Economics, June, 2003
B.A., Stanford University. Majors: Economics; International Relations, 1998; GPA: 3.96/4.0
(Phi Beta Kappa inductee in junior year); Honors Thesis: Mercosur and the European Union:
Modeling Integration
DISSERTATION PAPERS
Spousal Control and Intra-Household Decision Making: An Experimental Study (in
progress)
This paper examines intra-household decision making about financial and fertility decisions using
a controlled, experimental design. The difference in (time) preferences between spouses implied
by the extensive literature on differential resource allocation between men and women within a
household can create intra-household conflict and the need for “spousal control”. Fear of
expropriation of resources by one’s spouse can lead to either under-saving or illiquifying assets. I
run laboratory experiments with a sample of Filipino households in Mindanao, the Philippines to
examine the effect of privacy of information, fear of expropriation, and access to commitment
devices on decisions to spend or save money, and to spend on household versus private goods. I
also supplement the experimental data with extensive individual and household level surveys on
financial and fertility decisions in the household, and examine to what degree household
outcomes are correlated with spousal characteristics measured in the lab experiments.
Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from Commitment Savings Product in the
Philippines (joint with Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin)
We designed a commitment savings product for a Philippine bank and implemented it
using a randomized control methodology. The savings product was intended for
individuals who want to commit now to save later, and who were sophisticated enough to
engage in such a mechanism. We conducted a baseline survey on 1777 existing or
former clients of a bank. Two weeks later, we offered the product to a randomly chosen
subset of 710; 202 (28.4 percent) accepted the offer and opened the account. After six
months, average savings balances at the cooperating bank increased by 48 percent for the
treatment group relative to the control group. Those who opened the account increased
savings by 198 percent relative to the control group; but, only thirty-four percent of
individuals continued using the account beyond the initial deposit. In the baseline
survey, we asked hypothetical time discounting questions. Women who exhibited a
lower discount rate for future relative to current tradeoffs, and hence theoretically should
value commitment mechanisms, were in fact more likely to open the commitment savings
account.
Is Trust a Bad Investment? (joint with Iris Bohnet & Nikita Piankov)
This paper examines whether trust is an investment decision under uncertainty, based on the
expectation of trustworthiness, and whether trustworthiness is reciprocity, conditional on one’s
counterpart’s behavior. In experiments run in Russia, South Africa and the United States, we find
that only about one third of the subjects who trust expect to make money and that reciprocity
matters in the United States but hardly in Russia and South Africa. While there is substantial
heterogeneity in motivation, on average, trust and trustworthiness behavior is significantly related
to warm-glow kindness. Taking such intrinsic benefits into account, even one-shot trust appears
to “pay.”
OTHER RESEARCH PAPERS IN PROGRESS
Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist (with Colin Camerer and George Loewenstein)
Compositional Change in Response to Liberalization: Mexico’s Corn Sector under
NAFTA
Finding Missing Markets: A Marketing Intervention with Kenyan Farmers (with Xavier
Gine and Dean Karlan)
What Determines Rises in Islamic Fundamentalism Over Time and Across Countries?
(with Francesco Trebbi)
AWARDS/GRANTS
Program on Negotiations Next Generation Research Grant, 2004
Center for Basic Research in the Social Sciences (CBRSS) Dissertation Fellowship, 2003-2004
National Science Foundation SGER SES-0313877, 2003 (with Dean Karlan, for Savings Project)
Program on Justice, Welfare & Economics, Harvard University, Dissertation Fellowship,
2002-2003
Harvard Graduate Society Summer Fellowship, 2002
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies Research Grant, 2002
Social Science Research Council Program in Applied Economics Fellow, 2001-2002
Center for International Development (CID) Graduate Student Fellow, 2000-present
Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Research Grant, April 2000
Selected Participant at the Sage Foundation Behavioral Studies Roundtable, Berkeley, CA,
Summer 2000 and at the
European Science Days Psychology & Economics Conference, Steyr, Austria, Summer, 2001
Youngest recipient ever of the Order of British Columbia, June 1995;
Phi Beta Kappa awarded in Junior Year ;
Appointed to Cap&Gown, Stanford Women's Honors Society;
Stanford-in-Government Fellowship; Undergraduate Research Opportunities Research Grant
PUBLICATIONS
“Testing Savings Product Innovations Using an Experimental Methodology, Asian Development
Bank Technical Note Series No.8, November 2003 (with Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin)
“A Review of Commitment Savings Products in Developing Countries”, Asian Development
Bank Economics and Research Department Working Paper No. 45, July 2003 (with Nathalie
Gons, Dean Karlan and Wesley Yin)
"Motivating and Sustaining Economic Integration: The Case of Mercosur", Stanford Journal of
International Relations, Winter 1999
"The Contribution of Malcolm X to 20th Century History", The Concord Review, 1993
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching Assistant, Econ1030: Psychology & Economics, Harvard Economics Department, 02-
06/2004
Resident Tutor in Economics & Government, & Coordinator of the Development
RoundTable, Mather House, Harvard College, 07/00- 07/03
Teaching Assistant, Econ118: Economics of Development, Stanford Economics Department, 03-
06/98
Teaching Assistant, PS138: International Security in a Changing World, Stanford Political
Science, 01-03/98
Public Speaking Instructor and Course Captain, Technical Communications Program,
Engineering Department, Stanford University, 3/94-06/98
Moderator and Facilitator, World History Project: Simulated UN Negotiations, California State
Department of Education, 02-06/98
FIELD & POLICY WORK
Research Assistant, Professor Michael Kremer, Harvard Economics Department 06/00-
04/01
Analyzed data on an agricultural project undertaken in Busia, Kenya. Researched effects of
treatment on yields, profitability and adoption of new technologies. Analyzed patterns of learning
and diffusion across treatment and control villages.
Project Consultant, BASED (Cameroonian Health & Agriculture NGO) 07/99-08/99,
Cameroon
Conducted needs assessments and program evaluation for two villages involved in a joint UNDPBASED
project on agricultural sedenterization and microenterprise development.
Founder and Director, Rural Women's Training Institute 07/98-11/98,
Ivory Coast
Coordinated development of a 3-fold training program in health, business skills and agriculture
for women and monitored implementation in 9 pilot villages; negotiated collaboration with the
National Agency for Rural Development to provide technical assistance for the project.
Summer Associate, DPK Consulting/Public Resource Management. 07/97, San
Francisco
Researched and wrote "Proposal for Restructuring Insolvent State Institutions in China",
submitted to the Asian Development Bank; coordinated input of international team of lawyers,
judged and financial analysts for the proposal.
Summer Intern, World Bank, Middle East & North Africa Department, Division of Natural
Resources and the Environment 06/96-08/96,
Washington, D.C.
Contributed to Department Wide Rural Development Strategy for Morocco focused on trade and
economic integration possibilities for Morocco. Developed foundation for a negotiating strategy
for Morocco in the Year 2000 Agricultural Trade Negotiations with the European Union.
LANGUAGES
English, French, Spanish, Italian, Farsi
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