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Publications

We are all behavioral, more or less: A taxonomy of consumer decision making (2023)
with Victor Stango, Review of Economic Studies, 90(3), 1470-1498

Credit building or credit crumbling? A Credit Builder Loan’s Effects on Consumer Behavior and Market Efficiency in the United States (2023) Online Appendix
w/Jeremy Burke, Julian Jamison, Dean Karlan, & Kata Mihaly, Review of Financial Studies, 36(4), 1585–1620

5-year impacts of group-based financial education & savings promotion for Ugandan youth (forthcoming)
Review of Economics and Statistics, with Samantha Horn, Julian Jamison, and Dean Karlan

Dangers of a double bottom line: A poverty targeting experiment misses both targets (2023)
Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 32(3: Special Issue on Field Experiments), 510-522, with Dean Karlan and Adam Osman

Are high-interest loans predatory? Theory and evidence from payday lending (2022) Non-technical summary
w/Hunt Allcott, Joshua Kim, & Dmitry Taubinsky, Review of Economic Studies, 89(3), 1041-84 (lead article)

Consumer Protection for Financial Inclusion in Low and Middle Income Countries: Bridging Regulator and Academic Perspectives (2021)
(Much of the work and potential implications considered here pertain to richer countries as well as LMICs.)
w/Seth Garz, Xavier Giné, Dean Karlan, Rafe Mazer, and Caitlin Sanford, Annual Review of Financial Economics, vol 13

Megastudies Improve the Impact of Applied Behavioral Science (2021)
with Katy Milkman, Angela Duckworth, Samantha Horn, Dean Karlan, and 38 other co-authors
Nature, 600, 478–483

Evaluation of a Combined Financial Incentives and Deposit Contract Intervention for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial (2021)
Journal of Smoking Cessation, with Daren Anderson, Samantha Horn, Dean Karlan, Amanda Kowalski, and Jody Sindelar

Good identification, meet good data (2020)
World Development (Symposium on experimental approaches in development and poverty alleviation), 127(March), with Andrew Dillon, Dean Karlan, and Chris Udry

Long-run price elasticities of demand for microcredit: Evidence from a countrywide field experiment in Mexico (2019)
Review of Economic Studies, 86(4), 1704-1746, with Dean Karlan

Unshrouding: Evidence from bank overdrafts in Turkey (2018)
Journal of Finance, 73(2), 481-522 (lead article), with Sule Alan, Mehmet Cemalcilar, and Dean Karlan

Price and Control Elasticities of Demand for Savings (2018)
Journal of Development Economics, 130(January), 145-59, with Dean Karlan

Redefine Statistical Significance (2018)
Nature Human Behavior, 2(1), pp. 6-10, with 71 co-authors

Challenges to Replication and Iteration in Field Experiments: Evidence from two Direct Mail Shots (2017)
American Economic Review (Papers & Proceedings), 107(5), 462-465
with Jake Bowers, Nathaniel Higgins, Dean Karlan, and Sarah Tulman

Borrowing High vs. Borrowing Higher: Price Dispersion and Shopping Behavior in the U.S. Credit Card Market (2016)
Review of Financial Studies, 29(4): 979-1006, with Victor Stango

Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving (2016)
Management Science, 62(12): 3393-3411 (lead article),
with Dean Karlan, Maggie McConnell, and Sendhil Mullainathan

Follow the Money not the Cash: Comparing Methods for Identifying Consumption and Investment Responses to a Liquidity Shock (2016)
Journal of Development Economics, 121, 11-23, with Dean Karlan and Adam Osman

Wintertime for Deceptive Advertising? (2016)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 8(1): 177-92, with Eric Zitzewitz

A personal touch in text messaging can improve microloan repayment (2015)
Behavioral Science and Policy 1(2), 25-31, with Dean Karlan & Melanie Morten

Referrals: Peer Screening and Enforcement in a Consumer Credit Field Experiment (2015)
American Economic Journal: Micro, 7(3), 174-204, with Gharad Bryan and Dean Karlan

Behind the GATE Experiment: Evidence on Effects of & Rationales for Subsidized Entrepreneurship Training (2015)
American Economic Journal: Policy 7(2), 125-61, with Rob Fairlie & Dean Karlan

Microcredit Impacts: Evidence from a Randomized Microcredit Program Placement Experiment by Compartamos Banco (2015)
American Economic Journal: Applied, 7(1), 151-82, with Manuela Angelucci and Dean Karlan

Six Randomized Evaluations of Microcredit: Introduction and Further Steps (2015)
American Economic Journal: Applied, 7(1), 1-21, with Abhijit Banerjee and Dean Karlan

(Ineffective) Messages to Encourage Recycling: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Peru (2015)
World Bank Economic Review, 29(1): 180-206, with Alberto Chong, Dean Karlan, and Jeremy Shapiro

Household Debt: Facts, Puzzles, Theories, and Policies (2015)
Annual Review of Economics vol. 7, 251-76

Consumer Credit: Too Much or Too Little (or Just Right)? (2014)
Journal of Legal Studies 43, S2 (Special Issue on Benefit-Cost Analysis of Financial Regulation), S209-S237

In Harm's Way? Payday Loan Access & Military Personnel Performance (2014)
Review of Financial Studies, 27(9), 2805-2840, with Scott Carrell

Limited and Varying Consumer Attention: Evidence from Shocks to the Salience of Bank Overdraft Fees (2014)
Review of Financial Studies, 27(4), 990-1030, with Victor Stango

Savings by and for the poor: A research review and agenda (2014)
Review of Income and Wealth, 60(1), Special Issue on Poverty, Development and Behavioral Economics, 36-78, with Dean Karlan & Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan

List Randomization for Sensitive Behavior: An Application for Measuring Use of Loan Proceeds (2012)
Journal of Development Economics, 98, 1 (Symposium on Measurement and Survey Design), 71-75, with Dean Karlan

Microcredit in Theory and Practice: Using Randomized Credit Scoring for Impact Evaluation (2011)
Science, 332(6035), 1278-1284, with Dean Karlan

Being Surveyed Can Change Later Behavior and Related Parameter Estimates (2011)
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 10(1073), pp. 1-6, with Alix Zwane, Eric Van Dusen, William Pariente, Clair Null, Edward Miguel, Michael Kremer, Dean Karlan, Richard Hornbeck, Xavier Giné, Esther Duflo, Florencia Devoto, Bruno Crepon and Abhijit Banerjee.

Fuzzy Math, Disclosure Regulation, and Credit Market Outcomes: Evidence from Truth-in-Lending Reform
Review of Financial Studies 24(2): 506-534, with Victor Stango (2011)

What’s Advertising Content Worth? Evidence from a Consumer Credit Marketing Field Experiment (2010)
(previous title: “What’s Psychology Worth?...”)
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(1), 263-306, with M. Bertrand, D. Karlan, S. Mullainathan, and E. Shafir

Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract for Smoking Cessation (2010)
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4): 213-35, with Xavier Gine and Dean Karlan

Restricting Consumer Credit Access: Household Survey Evidence on Effects Around the Oregon Rate Cap
Journal of Banking and Finance, 34(3), 546-556 (2010)

Expanding Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts (2010)
Review of Financial Studies, 23(1), 433-464, with Dean Karlan

Exponential Growth Bias and Household Finance (2009)
Journal of Finance, 64(6), 2807-2849, with Victor Stango

Observing Unobservables: Identifying Information Asymmetries with a Consumer Credit Field Experiment (2009)
Econometrica
, 77(6), 1993-2008, with Dean Karlan
Web Appendix
Long version of paper (recommended for teaching)

Where is the Missing Credit Card Debt? Clues and Implications (2009)
Review of Income and Wealth, 55(2), 249-265

Debit or Credit? (2009)
Journal of Banking and Finance, 33(2), 358-366

What Do Consumers Really Pay on Their Checking & Credit Card Accounts? Explicit, Implicit, & Avoidable Costs (2009)
American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings), 99(2), 424-29, with Victor Stango

Credit Elasticities in Less-Developed Economies: Implications for Microfinance (2008)
American Economic Review, 98(3), 1040-68, with Dean Karlan

Lying About Borrowing (2008)
Journal of the European Economic Association (Papers and Proceedings), 6(2-3), with Dean Karlan.

Small Individual Loans and Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial Among South African Adults (2008)
BMC Public Health, 8:1, 409-, with Lia Fernald, Rita Hamad, Dean Karlan, Emily Ozer

Social and Economic Correlates of Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Stress in South African Adults (2008)
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 62, 538-44, with L. Fernald, R. Hamad, & D. Karlan

Youth Smoking in the United States: Evidence and Implications (2000)
in Risky Behavior Among Youths: An Economic Analysis, ed. Jonathan Gruber, U. Chicago Press, with Jon Gruber