Nava Ashraf is Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is also Director of Research of the Marshall Institute, Co-Director of the Psychology and Economics program at STICERD, and co-Lead Academic of the International Growth Centre, Zambia.


Working Papers

Female Entrepreneurship and Trust in the Market
(Nava Ashraf; Alexia Delfino; and Edward Glaeser)
October 2022,  Working Paper | [PDF]

Gendered Spheres of Learning and Household Decision Making Over Fertility
(Nava Ashraf; Erica Field; Alessandra Voena; and Roberta Ziparo)
June 2022, Working Paper | [PDF]

Learning to see the world’s opportunities: The Impact of Imagery on Entrepreneurial Success
(Nava Ashraf; Gharad Bryan; Alexia Delfino; Emily Holmes; Leonardo Iacovone; and Ashley Pople)
May 2022, Working Paper

Gender Roles and the Misallocation of Labour Across Countries
(Nava Ashraf; Oriana Bandiera; Virginia Minni; and Victor Quintas-Martínez)
May 2022, Working Paper | [PDF]

Learning to Teach by Learning to Learn.
(Nava Ashraf; Abhijit Banerjee; and Vesall Nourani)
October 2021, Working Paper | [PDF]

Papers

March 2021, Economica 88: 755-781 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]
 
Losing Prosociality in the Quest for Talent? Sorting, Selection, and Productivity in the delivery of Public Services.
(Nava Ashraf; Oriana Bandiera; Edward Davenport; and Scott S. Lee)
May 2020, American Economic Review 110(5): 1355-94 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Negotiating a Better Future: How Interpersonal Skills Facilitate Inter-Generational Investment.
(Nava Ashraf; Natalie Bau; Corinne Low; and Kathleen McGinn)
May 2020, Quarterly Journal of Economics 135, no. 2: 1095–1151 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Appendix] | [BibTeX]

The Distinctive Value of Bankers.
(Nava Ashraf; Oriana Bandiera; and Alexia Delfino)
May 2020, AEA Papers and Proceedings 110: 167-71 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [BibTeX]

Bride Price and Female Education.
(Nava Ashraf; Natalie Bau; Nathan Nunn; and Alessandra Voena)
2020, Journal of Political Economy 128 (2): 591-641 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Online Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Social Incentives in Organizations.
(Nava Ashraf and Oriana Bandiera)
May 2018, Annual Review of Economics 10:1, 439-463 | [PDF] | [Appendix] | [Supplemental Figure] | [BibTeX]

Altruistic Capital.
(Nava Ashraf and Oriana Bandiera)
May 2017, American Economic Review 107(5): 70-75 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [BibTeX]

Traditional Beliefs and Learning about Maternal Risk in Zambia.
(Nava Ashraf; Erica Field; Giuditta Rusconi; Alessandra Voena; and Roberta Ziparo)
2017, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 107 (5) | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Online Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Infrastructure, Incentives, and Institutions.
(Nava Ashraf; Edward Glaeser; Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto)
2016, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings 106(5): 77-82 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

No Margin, No Mission? A Field Experiment on Incentives for Public Services Delivery.
(Nava Ashraf; Oriana Bandiera; and B. Kelsey Jack)
December 2014, Journal of Public Economics 120: 1-17 | [PDF] | [Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Household Bargaining and Excess Fertility: An Experimental Study in Zambia.
(Nava Ashraf; Erica Field, and Jean Lee)
July 2014, American Economic Review 104(7) | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Online Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Awards Unbundled: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment.
(Nava Ashraf; Oriana Bandiera; and Scott S. Lee)
April 2014, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 100: 44–63 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

Information and Subsidies: Complements or Substitutes?
(Nava Ashraf; B. Kelsey Jack; and Emir Kamenica)
April 2013, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 88: 133–139 | [PDF] | [Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Can Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia.
(Nava Ashraf; James Berry; and Jesse M. Shapiro)
December 2010, American Economic Review no. 5: 2383–2413 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines.
(Nava Ashraf; Dean Karlan; Wesley Yin)
March 2010, World Development 38 (3): 333–344 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

Finding Missing Markets (and a Disturbing Epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya.
(Nava Ashraf; Xavier Gine; and Dean Karlan)
November 2009, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 91(4): 973-990 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

Spousal Control and Intra–Household Decision Making: An Experimental Study in the Philippines.
(Nava Ashraf)
September 2009, American Economic Review 99 (4): 1245–1277 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Decomposing Trust and Trustworthiness.
(Nava Ashraf; Iris Bohnet; and Nikita Piankov)
September 2006, Experimental Economics 9: 193–208 | [PDF] | [Online Appendix] | [BibTeX]

Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence from a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines.
(Nava AshrafDean Karlan; and Wesley Yin)
May 2006, Quarterly Journal of Economics 121, no. 2: 635–672 | [PDF] | [Data/Code] | [BibTeX]

  • Winner of TIAA–CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award Certificate of Excellence For an outstanding research publication containing ideas that the public and private sectors can use to maintain and improve America’s lifelong financial well-being presented by TIAA–CREF Institute.

Deposit Collectors.
(Nava Ashraf; Dean Karlan; and Wesley Yin)
2006, Art. 5. Special Issue on Field Experiments. Advances in Economic Analysis & Policy 6, no. 2. | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist.
(Nava AshrafColin Camerer, and George Loewenstein)
Summer 2005, Journal of Economic Perspectives 19, no. 3: 131–145.  | [PDF] | [BibTeX]


Other Publications and Book Chapters

Evaluating the Effects of Large Scale Health Interventions in Developing Countries: The Zambian Malaria Initiative.
(Nava Ashraf; Gunther Fink; and David N. Weil)
2016, African Successes, Volume II: Human Capital, edited by Sebastian Edwards, Simon Johnson and David N. Weil, Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 13-58 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

Contraceptive Access and Fertility: The Impact of Supply-Side Interventions.
(Nava Ashraf; Erica Field; and Jessica Leight)
September 2014, Working Paper | [PDF]

The Psycho-Social Benefits of Access to Contraception:Experimental Evidence from Zambia.
(Nava Ashraf; Marric Buessing; Erica Field; and Jessica Leight)
August 2014, Working Paper | [PDF]

Rx: Human Nature: How Behavioral Economics Is Promoting Better Health Around the World.
(Nava Ashraf)
April 2013, Harvard Business Review 91 (4): 119–125. | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

My Policies or Yours: Does OECD Support for Agriculture Increase Poverty in Developing Countries?
(Nava Ashraf; Margaret S. McMillan; and Alix Peterson Zwane)
March 2007, In Globalization and Poverty, edited by Ann Harrison. Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 183-240 | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

SEED: A Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines.
(Nava Ashraf; Dean Karlan; and Wesley Yin)
December 2004, Policy Paper | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

Testing Savings Product Innovations Using an Experimental Methodology.
(Nava Ashraf; Dean Karlan; and Wesley Yin)
November 2003, ERD Technical Note | [PDF] | [BibTeX]

A Review of Commitment Savings Products in Developing Countries.
(Nava Ashraf; Nathalie Gons; Dean Karlan; and Wesley Yin)
July 2003, ERD Working Paper | [PDF] | [BibTeX]