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Research parks. --- Parks, Research --- Parks, Science --- Research and development parks --- Science parks --- Industrial districts

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Randomized control trials are sometimes used to estimate the aggregate benefit from some policy or program. To address the potential bias from selective take-up, the randomization is used as an instrumental variable for treatment status. Does this (popular) method of impact evaluation help reduce the bias when take-up depends on unobserved gains from take up? Such "essential heterogeneity" is known to invalidate the instrumental variable estimator of mean causal impact, though one still obtains another parameter of interest, namely mean impact amongst those treated. However, if essential heterogeneity is the only problem then the naive (ordinary least squares) estimator also delivers this parameter; there is no gain from using randomization as an instrumental variable. On allowing the heterogeneity to also alter counterfactual outcomes, the instrumental variable estimator may well be more biased for mean impact than the naive estimator. Examples are given for various stylized programs, including a training program that attenuates the gains from higher latent ability, an insurance program that compensates for losses from unobserved risky behavior and a microcredit scheme that attenuates the gains from access to other sources of credit. Practitioners need to think carefully about the likely behavioral responses to social experiments in each context.

Disease Control & Prevention --- Essential heterogeneity --- Impact evaluation --- Instrumental variable estimator --- Poverty Impact Evaluation --- Poverty Monitoring & Analysis --- Public Sector Development --- Randomization --- Science Education --- Scientific Research & Science Parks --- Treatment status

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This paper analyzes the relationship between the number of documents required to export and import and the time it takes to complete all procedures to trade. It shows that an increase in the number of documents required for export and import tends to increase the time cost of shipments. However, this relationship is far from simplistic, varying sharply in magnitude across rich versus poor countries and small versus large countries. Specifically, the increase in the time cost of increased documentation is much larger for relatively poor and larger countries. One interpretation of this finding is that richer countries that have more resources and smaller countries that rely more on trade invest more in building efficient documentation systems. Hence, in such countries relative to others, increased documentation adds less to the time cost at the margin. At a broader level, the findings suggest caution in interpreting how input-based measures such as the number of required documents to trade affect the quality of the business environment as far as the associated cost is concerned.

Country size --- Economic Theory & Research --- Inequality --- Information Security & Privacy --- International Economics & Trade --- Openness --- Science Education --- Scientific Research & Science Parks --- Trade facilitation

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Although good and timely information on agricultural production is critical for policy-decisions, the quality of underlying data is often low and improving data quality could have a high payoff. This paper uses data from a production diary, administered concurrently with a standard household survey in Uganda to analyze the nature and incidence of responses, the magnitude of differences in reported outcomes, and factors that systematically affect these. Despite limited central supervision, diaries elicited a strong response, complemented standard surveys in a number of respects, and were less affected by problems of respondent fatigue than expected. The diary-based estimates of output value consistently exceeded that from the recall-based production survey, in line with reported disposition. Implications for policy and practical administration of surveys are drawn out.

Agricultural Production --- Agriculture --- Crops & Crop Management Systems --- Diaries --- Food & Beverage Industry --- Food Insecurity --- Household Welfare --- Policy-Decisions --- Rural Development Knowledge & Information Systems --- Science Education --- Scientific Research & Science Parks

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There is an inherent tension between traditional norms and survey protocols for quantitative data collected in the developing world. Unexpected interactions between the interviewer and respondent can lead to interviewer effects in the data, particularly in the case of subjective or sensitive questions. This paper makes use of a unique data set available from Timor-Leste containing subjective and objective questions to study these effects. In addition to their age and gender, data were collected from the interviewers regarding their opinions on the subjective questions prior to fieldwork. Fixed effects and mixed effects logit models are used to examine the main effects and interactions between interviewer and respondent characteristics. More objective measures serve as a pseudo control group. The paper finds interviewer effects in the both subjective and objective data, but the magnitude is considerably stronger for subjective questions. The paper also finds that female respondents are more susceptible to influence based on the interviewer's beliefs. Despite methodological shortcomings, the study highlights the need to consider more fully the impact of traditional cultural norms when conducting quantitative surveys in the developing world on topics that are outside the standard objective questions.

Gender & Law --- Housing & Human Habitats --- Interviewer Effects --- Justice Surveys --- Labor Policies --- Science Education --- Scientific Research & Science Parks --- Subjective Data --- Survey Methodology --- Timor-Leste