Education as Liberation?

Scholars have long speculated about education’s political impacts, variously arguing that it promotes modern or pro-democratic attitudes; that it instills acceptance of existing authority; and that it empowers the disadvantaged to challenge authority. To avoid endogeneity bias, if schooling requires some willingness to accept authority, we assess the political and social impacts of a randomized girls’ merit scholarship incentive program in Kenya that raised test scores and secondary schooling. We find little evidence for modernization theory. Consistent with the empowerment view, young women in program schools were less likely to accept domestic violence. Moreover, the program increased objective political knowledge, and reduced acceptance of political authority. However, this rejection of the status quo did not translate into greater perceived political efficacy, community participation, or voting intentions. Instead, the perceived legitimacy of political violence increased. Reverse causality may help account for the view that education instills greater acceptance of authority.

Education as Liberation?

Abstract: Scholars have long speculated about education's political impacts, variously arguing that it promotes modern or pro-democratic attitudes; that it instills acceptance of existing authority; and that it empowers the disadvantaged to challenge authority. To avoid endogeneity bias, if schooling requires some willingness to accept authority, we assess the political and social impacts of a randomized girls' merit scholarship incentive program in Kenya that raised test scores and secondary schooling. We find little evidence for modernization theory. Consistent with the empowerment view, young women in program schools were less likely to accept domestic violence. Moreover, the program increased objective political knowledge, and reduced acceptance of political authority. However, this rejection of the status quo did not translate into greater perceived political efficacy, community participation, or voting intentions. Instead, the perceived legitimacy of political violence increased. Reverse causality may help account for the view that education instills greater acceptance of authority

The transient localization scenario for charge transport in crystalline organic materials

Charge transport in crystalline organic semiconductors is intrinsically limited by the presence of large thermal molecular motions, which are a direct consequence of the weak van der Waals inter-molecular interactions. These lead to an original regime of transport called \textit{transient localization}, sharing features of both localized and itinerant electron systems. After a brief review of experimental observations that pose a challenge to the theory, we concentrate on a commonly studied model which describes the interaction of the charge carriers with inter-molecular vibrations. We present different theoretical approaches that have been applied to the problem in the past, and then turn to more modern approaches that are able to capture the key microscopic phenomenon at the origin of the puzzling experimental observations, i.e. the quantum localization of the electronic wavefuntion at timescales shorter than the typical molecular motions. We describe in particular a relaxation time approximation which clarifies how the transient localization due to dynamical molecular motions relates to the Anderson localization realized for static disorder, and allows us to devise strategies to improve the mobility of actual compounds. The relevance of the transient localization scenario to other classes of systems is briefly discussed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Advanced Functional Materials - Special issue on Organic Single Crystal

Essays in East African Development

This dissertation combines three studies from East Africa, each investigating a different way in which individuals respond to institutional changes, and how this response shapes the broader impact of these policy levers. Each paper develops and explains one or more theories of individual behavior and combines data from a wide range of sources to test hypotheses generated from the original theories.The first chapter measures the impact of provision of ARVs on risky sexual behavior among young women in Kenya, and estimates how this response will shape future HIV infection rates. Access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in Sub-Saharan Africa has rapidly expanded - from fewer than 10,000 people treated in 2000 to more than 8 million in 2011. To measure the impact of this expansion, it is necessary to identify the behavioral response of individuals to drug access. This chapter combines geocoded information about the timing of introduc- tion of ARVs in all Kenyan health facilities with two waves of geocoded population surveys to estimate the impact of proximity to an ARV provider on risky sexual behavior. Using a difference in differences strategy that matches survey clusters geographically across waves, I find a relative increase in risky behavior as reflected in pregnancy rates (increase of 82%) and self-reported recent sexual activity (increase of 40%) among young women in areas in which ARVs were introduced between 2004 and 2008. The full impact of ARV access on new infections is estimated through a simulation procedure that combines estimated behavioral responses to ARVs with medical evidence regarding HIV transmission. An increase in ARV drug access is predicted to reduce the rate of new infections despite the induced increase in risk-taking.The second chapter looks at the impact of corruption on the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs in preventing deaths due to HIV and the potential channels that generate this relationship. This is based on a unique panel dataset of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, which combines information on all imported antiretroviral drugs from the World Health Organiza- tion's Global Price Reporting Mechanism with measures of corruption and estimates of the HIV prevalence and the number of deaths in each year and in each country. Countries with higher levels of corruption experience a significantly smaller drop in HIV deaths as a result of the same quantity of ARVs imported. This is followed up with a single case-study from Kenya to illustrate one potential mechanism for the observed effect, demonstrating that disproportionately more clinics begin distributing ARVs in areas that are predominantly represented by the new leader's ethnic group.The third chapter uses new data on participation to examine how local economic conditions shaped within-country variation in willingness to participate in violent activities during the Rwandan genocide. It discusses and tests the predictions of three sets of theories about the causes of violence. The data provide strong evidence that higher rates of both unemployment and education among Hutu are associated with increased participation. I find no evidence that the employment or education of the Tutsi population reduce participation rates. I also find suggestive evidence of a positive association between violence and the interaction of Hutu unemployment and education both at the commune level and at the individual level. These results are consistent with theories of opportunity costs discouraging violence, and they provide additional evidence of a connection between education, unemployment, and violence

Education as Liberation?

This paper studies the political and social impacts of increased education by utilizing a randomized girls' merit scholarship programme in Kenya that raised test scores and secondary schooling. Consistent with the view that education empowers the disadvantaged to challenge authority, we find that the programme reduced the acceptance of domestic violence and political authority. Young women in programme schools also increased their objective political knowledge. We find that this rejection of the status quo did not translate into greater perceived political efficacy, community participation or voting intentions. Instead, there is suggestive evidence that the perceived legitimacy of political violence increased

Using advertisements to create demand for voluntary medical male circumcision in South Africa

De-identified Excel dataset and do-file used to publish the report to 3ie on the project, "Using advertisements to create demand for voluntary medical male circumcision in South Africa" (project code TW3.17). This project was funded under Thematic Window 3 on voluntary medical male circumcision

Education as Liberation

This paper studies the political and social impacts of increased education by utilizing a randomized girls’ merit scholarship programme in Kenya that raised test scores and secondary schooling. Consistent with the view that education empowers the disadvantaged to challenge authority, we find that the programme reduced the acceptance of domestic violence and political authority. Young women in programme schools also increased their objective political knowledge. We find that this rejection of the status quo did not translate into greater perceived political efficacy, community participation or voting intentions. Instead, there is suggestive evidence that the perceived legitimacy of political violence increased