Christopher Udry
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 205900 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Christopher Udry |
| PRENOMES | Christopher |
| SOBRENOME | Udry |
| ASSINATURA | UDRY C |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Northwestern University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1605-1916 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 31 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 915 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 31 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1990 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 9 |
Access to digital credit for smallholder farmers
Social protection and social distancing during the pandemic
We randomized mobile money transfers to a sample of low-income Ghanaians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Treated households received eight transfers that sum to roughly one month’s income, while control households only received one transfer. The mere announcement of upcoming transfers has no effect. Once disbursed, transfers increase contemporaneous food expenditure by 8% and income by 20%, but do not affect psychological well-being. Over 40% of th…
Estimating impact with surveys versus digital traces
We study whether program impacts can be estimated using a combination of digital trace data and machine learning. In a randomized controlled trial of cash transfers in Togo, endline survey data indicate positive treatment effects on food security, mental health, and perceived economic status. However, estimates of impact based solely on predicted endline outcomes (generated using trace data and machine learning, which do successfully predict base…
Introduction to the journal of development economics special issue on methods and measurement
The Fading Treatment Effects of a Multi-Faceted Asset-Transfer Program in Ethiopia
How political insiders lose out when international aid underperforms
Agricultural Technology in Africa
We discuss recent trends in agricultural productivity in Africa and highlight how technological progress in agriculture has stagnated on the continent. We briefly review the literature that tries to explain this stagnation through the lens of particular constraints to technology adoption. Ultimately, none of these constraints alone can explain these trends. New research highlights pervasive heterogeneity in the gross and net returns to agricultur…
Falling living standards during the Covid-19 crisis
Income, employment, and food security fell sharply across low- and middle-income countries during the COVID crisis.
Unpacking a multi-faceted program to build sustainable income for the very poor
Social protection amidst social upheaval
Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation
Standard measures of productivity display enormous dispersion across farms in Africa. Crop yields and input intensities appear to vary greatly, seemingly in conflict with a model of theoretical framework for distinguishing between measurement error, unobserved heterogeneity, and potential misallocation. Using rich panel data from farms in Tanzania and Uganda, we estimate our model using a flexible specification in which we allow for several kinds…
Good identification, meet good data
Impact of savings groups on the lives of the poor
Significance We conducted a large randomized evaluation of a savings-led microfinance program across three countries. This evaluation provides important evidence on the impact of a popular development intervention on the lives of low-income households in rural communities by looking at its effects on usage of financial services, microenterprise activity, income, female empowerment, consumption, and the ability to cope with shocks.
Agricultural Decisions after Relaxing Credit and Risk Constraints
The investment decisions of small-scale farmers in developing countries are conditioned by their financial environment. Binding credit market constraints and incomplete insurance can limit investment in activities with high expected profits. We conducted several experiments in northern Ghana in which farmers were randomly assigned to receive cash grants, grants of or opportunities to purchase rainfall index insurance, or a combination of the two.…
Introduction
Poor mental health in Ghana
Psychological distress is substantial among both men and women in Ghana, with nearly 20% having moderate or severe psychological distress, an estimate higher than those found among South African (16%) or Australian (11%) adults. Women who are disempowered in the context of intimate relationships may be particularly vulnerable to psychological distress. Results identify populations to be targeted by interventions aiming to improve mental health
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo, winner of the 2010 John Bates Clark Medal, has made extraordinary contributions to development economics. She exemplifies and has played a vital role in the renaissance of development economics over the past decade. She has erected and inspired a research apparatus all over the developing world that integrates large-scale field experiments with economic theory to yield important insights for development policy and our understanding …
Learning about a New Technology
This paper investigates the role of social learning in the diffusion of a new agricultural technology in Ghana. We use unique data on farmers' communication patterns to define each individual's information neighborhood. Conditional on many potentially confounding variables, we find evidence that farmers adjust their inputs to align with those of their information neighbors who were surprisingly successful in previous periods. The relationship of …
The Profits of Power
We examine the impact of ambiguous and contested land rights on investment and productivity in agriculture in Akwapim, Ghana. We show that individuals who hold powerful positions in a local political hierarchy have more secure tenure rights and that as a consequence they invest more in land fertility and have substantially higher output. The intensity of investments on different plots cultivated by a given individual corresponds to that individua…
Households and the Social Organization of Consumption in Southern Ghana
This article replicates Guyer's finding in Marginal Gains (2004) of a social gradient in expenditure patterns of Ghanaian households using more flexible statistical techniques than those used in the book. We show that similar gradients are found in Cote d'lvoire and in Kagera, Tanzania, suggesting that Guyer's finding in Ghana is a manifestation of a more general phenomenon. In addition, we examine patterns of measurement error in household expen…
Consumption smoothing? Livestock, insurance and drought in rural Burkina Faso
Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Cote d'Ivoire
We study resource allocation within households in Côte d'Ivoire.In Côte d'Ivoire, as in much of Africa, husbands and wives farm separate plots, and there is some specialization by gender in the crops that are grown.These different crops are differentially sensitive to particular kinds of rainfall shocks.We find that conditional on overall levels of expenditure, the composition of household expenditure is sensitive to the gender of the recipient o…
Social Learning Through Networks
Metadata only record
Development Microeconomics
Development Microeconomics looks at a broad spectrum of topics in development economics, combining the strength of conventional developmental thought with the insights of contemporary mainstream economics. This book intends to provide illustrations of microeconomic analyses of economic development by utilizing simple, theoretical, micro models of some of the key economic issues in poor countries. In particular, it draws upon the breakthrough in e…
Drought and saving in West Africa
The Profits of Power
We examine the impact of ambiguous and contested land rights on investment and productivity in agriculture in Akwapim, Ghana. We show that individuals who hold powerful positions in a local political hierarchy have more secure tenure rights and that as a consequence they invest more in land fertility and have substantially higher output. The intensity of investments on different plots cultivated by a given individual corresponds to that individua…
Gender, Agricultural Production, and the Theory of the Household
Virtually all models of the household assume that the allocation of resources is Pareto efficient. Within many African households, agricultural production occurs on many plots controlled by different members of the household. Pareto efficiency implies that factors should be allocated efficiently across these plots. The author finds, in contrast, that plots controlled by women are farmed much less intensively than similar plots within the househol…
Geography, Demography, and Economic Growth in Africa
THE POVERTY of sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most obdurate features of the world economy.Since the industrial revolution, this has been the world's poorest and also its most slowly growing region.The most reliable estimates of world and regional gross domestic products for the period 1820-1992 are those prepared by Angus Maddison.1 Figure 1 shows estimated long-term growth profiles for selected regions.According to these estimates, sub-Saharan…
Drought and saving in West Africa
Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Cote d'Ivoire
We study resource allocation within households in Côte d'Ivoire.In Côte d'Ivoire, as in much of Africa, husbands and wives farm separate plots, and there is some specialization by gender in the crops that are grown.These different crops are differentially sensitive to particular kinds of rainfall shocks.We find that conditional on overall levels of expenditure, the composition of household expenditure is sensitive to the gender of the recipient o…
Gender differentials in farm productivity
Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation
Standard measures of productivity display enormous dispersion across farms in Africa. Crop yields and input intensities appear to vary greatly, seemingly in conflict with a model of theoretical framework for distinguishing between measurement error, unobserved heterogeneity, and potential misallocation. Using rich panel data from farms in Tanzania and Uganda, we estimate our model using a flexible specification in which we allow for several kinds…
Consumption smoothing? Livestock, insurance and drought in rural Burkina Faso
Households and the Social Organization of Consumption in Southern Ghana
This article replicates Guyer's finding in Marginal Gains (2004) of a social gradient in expenditure patterns of Ghanaian households using more flexible statistical techniques than those used in the book. We show that similar gradients are found in Cote d'lvoire and in Kagera, Tanzania, suggesting that Guyer's finding in Ghana is a manifestation of a more general phenomenon. In addition, we examine patterns of measurement error in household expen…
Agricultural Technology in Africa
We discuss recent trends in agricultural productivity in Africa and highlight how technological progress in agriculture has stagnated on the continent. We briefly review the literature that tries to explain this stagnation through the lens of particular constraints to technology adoption. Ultimately, none of these constraints alone can explain these trends. New research highlights pervasive heterogeneity in the gross and net returns to agricultur…
Unpacking a multi-faceted program to build sustainable income for the very poor
How political insiders lose out when international aid underperforms
Social protection amidst social upheaval
Estimating impact with surveys versus digital traces
We study whether program impacts can be estimated using a combination of digital trace data and machine learning. In a randomized controlled trial of cash transfers in Togo, endline survey data indicate positive treatment effects on food security, mental health, and perceived economic status. However, estimates of impact based solely on predicted endline outcomes (generated using trace data and machine learning, which do successfully predict base…
Good identification, meet good data
Credit Markets in Northern Nigeria
This article addresses the issues of incomplete markets and imperfect information in the context of credit markets in rural northern Nigeria. In much recent theoretical literature, the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection are assumed to be decisive for the organization of agrarian institutions. In contrast, it is found that in the four villages surveyed credit transactions take advantage of the free flow of information within rural comm…
Peasants and Governments
Journal Article Peasants and Governments: An Economic Analysis Get access Peasants and Governments: An Economic Analysis. By BEVAN (DAVID et al.). (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Pp. xiii + 349. £40.00 hardback. ISBN 0 19 828621 X.) Christopher Udry Christopher Udry Northwestern University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Economic Journal, Volume 101, Issue 408, 1 September 1991, Pages 1304–1306, https:…
Risk and Insurance in a Rural Credit Market
Credit contracts play a direct role in pooling risk between households in northern Nigeria. Repayments owed by borrowers depend on realizations of random shocks by both borrowers and lenders. The paper develops two models of state-contingent loans. The first is a competitive equilibrium in perfectly enforceable contracts. The second permits imperfect information and equilibrium default. Estimates of both models indicate that quantitatively import…
Gender differentials in farm productivity
Gender, Agricultural Production, and the Theory of the Household
Virtually all models of the household assume that the allocation of resources is Pareto efficient. Within many African households, agricultural production occurs on many plots controlled by different members of the household. Pareto efficiency implies that factors should be allocated efficiently across these plots. The author finds, in contrast, that plots controlled by women are farmed much less intensively than similar plots within the househol…
Drought and saving in West Africa
Geography, Demography, and Economic Growth in Africa
THE POVERTY of sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most obdurate features of the world economy.Since the industrial revolution, this has been the world's poorest and also its most slowly growing region.The most reliable estimates of world and regional gross domestic products for the period 1820-1992 are those prepared by Angus Maddison.1 Figure 1 shows estimated long-term growth profiles for selected regions.According to these estimates, sub-Saharan…
Development Microeconomics
Development Microeconomics looks at a broad spectrum of topics in development economics, combining the strength of conventional developmental thought with the insights of contemporary mainstream economics. This book intends to provide illustrations of microeconomic analyses of economic development by utilizing simple, theoretical, micro models of some of the key economic issues in poor countries. In particular, it draws upon the breakthrough in e…
Social Learning Through Networks
Metadata only record
Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Cote d'Ivoire
We study resource allocation within households in Côte d'Ivoire.In Côte d'Ivoire, as in much of Africa, husbands and wives farm separate plots, and there is some specialization by gender in the crops that are grown.These different crops are differentially sensitive to particular kinds of rainfall shocks.We find that conditional on overall levels of expenditure, the composition of household expenditure is sensitive to the gender of the recipient o…
Consumption smoothing? Livestock, insurance and drought in rural Burkina Faso
Households and the Social Organization of Consumption in Southern Ghana
This article replicates Guyer's finding in Marginal Gains (2004) of a social gradient in expenditure patterns of Ghanaian households using more flexible statistical techniques than those used in the book. We show that similar gradients are found in Cote d'lvoire and in Kagera, Tanzania, suggesting that Guyer's finding in Ghana is a manifestation of a more general phenomenon. In addition, we examine patterns of measurement error in household expen…
The Profits of Power
We examine the impact of ambiguous and contested land rights on investment and productivity in agriculture in Akwapim, Ghana. We show that individuals who hold powerful positions in a local political hierarchy have more secure tenure rights and that as a consequence they invest more in land fertility and have substantially higher output. The intensity of investments on different plots cultivated by a given individual corresponds to that individua…
Learning about a New Technology
This paper investigates the role of social learning in the diffusion of a new agricultural technology in Ghana. We use unique data on farmers' communication patterns to define each individual's information neighborhood. Conditional on many potentially confounding variables, we find evidence that farmers adjust their inputs to align with those of their information neighbors who were surprisingly successful in previous periods. The relationship of …
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo, winner of the 2010 John Bates Clark Medal, has made extraordinary contributions to development economics. She exemplifies and has played a vital role in the renaissance of development economics over the past decade. She has erected and inspired a research apparatus all over the developing world that integrates large-scale field experiments with economic theory to yield important insights for development policy and our understanding …
Poor mental health in Ghana
Psychological distress is substantial among both men and women in Ghana, with nearly 20% having moderate or severe psychological distress, an estimate higher than those found among South African (16%) or Australian (11%) adults. Women who are disempowered in the context of intimate relationships may be particularly vulnerable to psychological distress. Results identify populations to be targeted by interventions aiming to improve mental health
Agricultural Decisions after Relaxing Credit and Risk Constraints
The investment decisions of small-scale farmers in developing countries are conditioned by their financial environment. Binding credit market constraints and incomplete insurance can limit investment in activities with high expected profits. We conducted several experiments in northern Ghana in which farmers were randomly assigned to receive cash grants, grants of or opportunities to purchase rainfall index insurance, or a combination of the two.…
Introduction
Impact of savings groups on the lives of the poor
Significance We conducted a large randomized evaluation of a savings-led microfinance program across three countries. This evaluation provides important evidence on the impact of a popular development intervention on the lives of low-income households in rural communities by looking at its effects on usage of financial services, microenterprise activity, income, female empowerment, consumption, and the ability to cope with shocks.
Good identification, meet good data
Heterogeneity, Measurement Error, and Misallocation
Standard measures of productivity display enormous dispersion across farms in Africa. Crop yields and input intensities appear to vary greatly, seemingly in conflict with a model of theoretical framework for distinguishing between measurement error, unobserved heterogeneity, and potential misallocation. Using rich panel data from farms in Tanzania and Uganda, we estimate our model using a flexible specification in which we allow for several kinds…
Falling living standards during the Covid-19 crisis
Income, employment, and food security fell sharply across low- and middle-income countries during the COVID crisis.
Unpacking a multi-faceted program to build sustainable income for the very poor
Social protection amidst social upheaval
Agricultural Technology in Africa
We discuss recent trends in agricultural productivity in Africa and highlight how technological progress in agriculture has stagnated on the continent. We briefly review the literature that tries to explain this stagnation through the lens of particular constraints to technology adoption. Ultimately, none of these constraints alone can explain these trends. New research highlights pervasive heterogeneity in the gross and net returns to agricultur…
Economics (25 obras) · Geography (12 obras) · Agriculture (11 obras) · Microfinance and Financial Inclusion (11 obras) · Agricultural risk and resilience (10 obras) · Economic growth (10 obras) · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare (10 obras) · Business (9 obras) · Political science (9 obras) · Income, Poverty, and Inequality (8 obras)