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Welcome! I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Economics Department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. My main fields are in development economics and political economy. I am also interested in economic history and public health. I hold a PhD in Economics from the European University Institute in Florence and I spent the last three years of my doctorate at the University of California Berkeley as a Visiting Research Scholar. |
By Dani Machlis.
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Contact:
adagt[at]bgu.ac.il |
Department of Economics
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev P.O. Box 653, Be'er Sheva 8410501, Israel |
WORKING PAPERS
Monitoring Harassment in Organizations (with Laura Boudreau, Sylvain Chassang and Rachel Heath)
We study the value of garbled survey methods as a tool to monitor harassment. Theory predicts that randomly switching reports that no harassment took place to reports that harassment did take place can improve information transmission by guaranteeing participants plausible deniability in the event they file an incriminating report. We evaluate this prediction in a phone-based survey of workers at apparel manufacturing plants in Bangladesh. We vary the survey method (direct or garbled), the degree of personally identifiable information (team id) associated with the report, as well as the degree of rapport built with respondents. We find that garbling increases reporting of sexual harassment by about 306%, physical harassment by 295%, and threatening behavior by 56%. We also find a negative effect of attaching team id to the report. We use the improved data to assess policy-relevant aspects of harassment: How prevalent is it? What share of managers is responsible for the misbehavior? How isolated are victims? How do harassment rates compare for men and women? Based on the answers to these questions, we draw implications for decision-makers.
Epidemics and Conflict : Evidence from the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa (with Elena Esposito)
This paper provides causal evidence of the impact of a rapidly spreading epidemic on civil violence, and sheds light on its drivers. Novel data at high spatial and temporal resolution of the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa reveal that epidemics spark civil violence, driven by low trust in state institutions. Epidemics generate an increased demand for public goods, calling for a rapid response from the state, including its coercive power. However, its ability to respond is limited in weak institutional settings. We find that different types of containment efforts have opposite effects, depending on existing levels of trust. The provision of public health facilities unambiguously lowers violence, while area blockades lead to a rise in violence only among groups that mistrust the state. The effects of the epidemic on civil violence persist years after the outbreak ended.
Local Media and Epidemics: Evidence from the Ebola outbreak
Local media struggles financially, yet policy-makers insist on its importance. Does local media matter? If so, why? Is it more relevant information, ethno-linguistic belonging, or, locality, helping coordinate behavior? I examine this in a high-stakes context, the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. I exploit quasi-random variation in access to distinct media outlets and the timing of a public-health campaign on community radio. I find that 13% of Ebola cases would have been prevented if places with access to neighboring community radio stations had their own. This is driven by radio stations’ locality, not ethno-linguistic boundaries, and by coordination in socially-sanctioned behaviors.
Nonlinear pricing of regulated utilities to address the tradeoff between a universal service and an environmental externality
This paper analyses the role of nonlinear pricing in guaranteeing access to a universal service, such as electricity, and in incorporating the environmental externality caused by its excessive consumption. In a general equilibrium framework, I show that third degree price discrimination can achieve both goals. I then study the impact of a reduction in the electricity tariff for poor households in the Spanish residential electricity market. The difference in tariffs introduced in 2010 and applied to households depending on the age of the third child is exploited in a Difference-in-Discontinuities Design to test the effect of price discrimination on consumption and long-term outcomes. I find positive long-term impacts on the health of the elderly benefiting from the reduced price.
Monitoring Harassment in Organizations (with Laura Boudreau, Sylvain Chassang and Rachel Heath)
We study the value of garbled survey methods as a tool to monitor harassment. Theory predicts that randomly switching reports that no harassment took place to reports that harassment did take place can improve information transmission by guaranteeing participants plausible deniability in the event they file an incriminating report. We evaluate this prediction in a phone-based survey of workers at apparel manufacturing plants in Bangladesh. We vary the survey method (direct or garbled), the degree of personally identifiable information (team id) associated with the report, as well as the degree of rapport built with respondents. We find that garbling increases reporting of sexual harassment by about 306%, physical harassment by 295%, and threatening behavior by 56%. We also find a negative effect of attaching team id to the report. We use the improved data to assess policy-relevant aspects of harassment: How prevalent is it? What share of managers is responsible for the misbehavior? How isolated are victims? How do harassment rates compare for men and women? Based on the answers to these questions, we draw implications for decision-makers.
Epidemics and Conflict : Evidence from the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa (with Elena Esposito)
This paper provides causal evidence of the impact of a rapidly spreading epidemic on civil violence, and sheds light on its drivers. Novel data at high spatial and temporal resolution of the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa reveal that epidemics spark civil violence, driven by low trust in state institutions. Epidemics generate an increased demand for public goods, calling for a rapid response from the state, including its coercive power. However, its ability to respond is limited in weak institutional settings. We find that different types of containment efforts have opposite effects, depending on existing levels of trust. The provision of public health facilities unambiguously lowers violence, while area blockades lead to a rise in violence only among groups that mistrust the state. The effects of the epidemic on civil violence persist years after the outbreak ended.
Local Media and Epidemics: Evidence from the Ebola outbreak
Local media struggles financially, yet policy-makers insist on its importance. Does local media matter? If so, why? Is it more relevant information, ethno-linguistic belonging, or, locality, helping coordinate behavior? I examine this in a high-stakes context, the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. I exploit quasi-random variation in access to distinct media outlets and the timing of a public-health campaign on community radio. I find that 13% of Ebola cases would have been prevented if places with access to neighboring community radio stations had their own. This is driven by radio stations’ locality, not ethno-linguistic boundaries, and by coordination in socially-sanctioned behaviors.
Nonlinear pricing of regulated utilities to address the tradeoff between a universal service and an environmental externality
This paper analyses the role of nonlinear pricing in guaranteeing access to a universal service, such as electricity, and in incorporating the environmental externality caused by its excessive consumption. In a general equilibrium framework, I show that third degree price discrimination can achieve both goals. I then study the impact of a reduction in the electricity tariff for poor households in the Spanish residential electricity market. The difference in tariffs introduced in 2010 and applied to households depending on the age of the third child is exploited in a Difference-in-Discontinuities Design to test the effect of price discrimination on consumption and long-term outcomes. I find positive long-term impacts on the health of the elderly benefiting from the reduced price.
SELECTED WORK IN PROGRESS
Whistleblowing Mechanisms for Employer Misbehavior: Evidence from the Bangladeshi Garments Sector (with Laura Boudreau and Sylvain Chassang)
Disentangling political ideology from ethnic voting in Africa (with Madina Kurmangaliyeva)
Income inequality, shocks and political ideology in Africa (with Madina Kurmangaliyeva)
