Development Economics Program Meeting
Organized by Michael C. Best, Kelsey Jack, Paul Novosad, Benjamin A. Olken, Tommaso Porzio, Simone G. Schaner, and María Micaela Sviatschi
December 4, 2026
Royal Sonesta Hotel, 40 Edwin H. Land Blvd.,Cambridge, MA
Thursday, December 3
6:30 pm
Dinner
Friday, December 4
8:00 am
Breakfast
8:45 am

Disrupting State Legitimacy: Evidence from 43,000 Colonial Documents

Augustin Bergeron, Harvard University and NBER
Abdoulaye Ndiaye, New York University
9:35 am

Depreciation and Growth: Evidence from Machine Repair in Uganda

Tilman Graff, Princeton University
10:25 am
Break
10:55 am

Equity and Efficiency of Consumption Taxes: Evidence from India’s GST

Pierre Bachas, The World Bank
Davi Bhering, Paris School of Economics
Pulak Ghosh, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
11:45 am
Lightning Round

Seventeen-Year Effects of the Targeting the Ultra Poor Program

Abhijit Banerjee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NBER
Rebecca Cai, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Esther Duflo, University of Zurich and NBER
Garima Sharma, Northwestern University and NBER

Learn to Earn: The Long-Term Effects of Learning Gains in Primary Schools

Jishnu Das, Georgetown University and NBER
Tahir Andrabi, Pomona College
Natalie Bau, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER
Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Harvard University and NBER
Catherine Michaud-Leclerc, Université Laval

Experiential and Social Learning

Agha A. Akram, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Gabriella Fleischman, University of Pittsburgh
Reshmaan N. Hussam, Harvard University and NBER
Akib Khan, Stockholm School of Economics
12:15 pm
Lunch
1:15 pm

Violation and Enforcement of Workplace Regulations: Evidence from Mexican Firm Inspections

Agustina Colonna, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Lukas Rodrian, University of Zurich
Jorge Pérez Pérez, Banco de México
2:05 pm
Lightning Round

Born Again: Experimental Evidence on the Economic and Social Impacts of Religious Renewal

Francesco Loiacono, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Andreas Madestam, Stockholm University
Jakob Svensson, Stockholm University

The Well-Being Effects of Digital Mental Health Care

Manuela Angelucci, University of Texas at Austin
Raissa Fabregas, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
Antonia Vazquez, Brown University

Absent but Not Idle: the Social Roots of Demand for Flexible Work

Sampreet Goraya, Stockholm School of Economics
Suanna Oh, Paris School of Economics
Yogita Shamdasani, National University of Singapore
2:35 pm
Break
2:55 pm

An Experimental Test of Whether Policies Scale: Evidence from Delhi's Free Bus Scheme

Girija Borker, The World Bank
Gabriel Kreindler, Harvard University and NBER
Dev Patel, Brown University
3:45 pm

Causes and Consequences of Labor Utilization: Evidence from Ugandan Firms

Vittorio Bassi, University of Southern California and NBER
Imran Rasul, University College London
Anna O. Veroux, Institute for Fiscal Studies: IFS
Anna Vitali, New York University
4:35 pm
Adjourn