Papers Discussed at WGAPE Meetings
(Some of the links below are to subsequently revised and/or published versions of the papers presented at WGAPE. Paper presenters marked with an * were outside guests of WGAPE.)

9-10 December 2011, Stanford
  • Eric Kramon, "Why Do Politicians Buy Votes When the Ballot is Secret? Theory and Experimental Evidence from Kenya"
  • Edward Miguel, "Transportation Choices, Fatalism, and the Value of Life in Africa"
  • Nicholas Eubank, "Taxation, Political Accountability, and Foreign Aid: Lessons from Somaliland"
  • Ryan Jablonski, "Does Aid Target Votes? How Electoral Strategies Shape the Distribution of Aid"
  • Jonas Hjort, "Ethnic Divisions and Production in Firms"
  • Lisa Mueller, "Democratic Revolutionaries or Pocketbook Protestors? The Comparative Salience of Personal Rule and Famine in the Nigerien Uprisings of 2009-10"
  • Karen Ferree, "Getting Out the Vote Uganda Style: Social and Political Context and Turnout in an African Election"
  • Mark Rosenberg, "A Theory of Founding Party Dominance"


  • 20-21 May 2011, UCSD
  • Claire Adida, "Gender and Generosity: Problems in Islamic Integration in France"
  • Mary Kay Gugerty, "Does Bike Distribution Improve Education and Livelihood Outomcs in Zambia? A Proposed Randomized Evaluation"
  • Eric Kramon and Daniel Posner, "Education for All? The Political Economy of Primary Education in Kenya"
  • Craig McIntosh, "Investing at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Experimental Evidence on Business Activity and Group Cohesion in Tanzania"
  • *Ameet Morjaria, "Electoral Competition and Deforestation: Micro Evidence from Kenya"
  • Lisa Mueller, "Development and the Tolerance for Inequality"
  • Amanda Robinson, "National Identification and Interpersonal Trust in Diverse Societies"


  • 17-18 December 2010, UC Berkeley
  • *Katherine Casey, "Crossing Party Lines: The Effects of Information on Redistributive Politics"
  • Katherine Casey, Rachel Glennerster and Edward Miguel, "Experimental Evidence on External Aid and Community Institutions in Sierra Leone"
  • Lisa Mueller, "Protest Participation in Africa"
  • Isaias Chaves and James Robinson, "The Political Consequences of Civil Wars"
  • Willa Friedman, "Local Economic Conditions and Participation in the Rwandan Genocide"
  • Nicolai Lidow, "Rebel Governance and Civilian Abuse: Comparing Liberia's Rebels Using Satellite Data"
  • Melina Raquel Platas, "Africa's Health Tragedy? Ethinc Diversity and Health Outcomes"


  • 30 April-1 May 2010, Pomona College
  • Claire Adida, "Mass Expulsions in Africa"
  • Nicole Bonoff and Brigitte Zimmerman, "Budget Management and Accountability: Evidence from Kenyan Local Authorities"
  • Elizabeth Carlson, "Great Expectations: Ethnicity, Performance, and Ugandan Voters"
  • *Raphael Franck and Ilia Rainer, "Does the Leader's Ethnicity Matter? Ethnic Favoritism, Education and Health in Sub-Saharan Africa "
  • Jessica Gottlieb, "Is Democracy Working? Determinants of Local Government Performance (Failure) in Mali" [concept note]
  • Eric Kramon and Daniel Posner, "Who is favored? How the Outcomes One Studies Affect the Answers One Gets"
  • James Long, "Electoral Fraud and the Erosion of Democratic Gains in Kenya"
  • Laura Weinstein, "The Politics of Government Expenditures in Tanzania: 1999-2007"


  • 11-12 December 2009, UC Berkeley
  • Amanda Robinson, "National versus Ethnic Identity in Africa: State, Group and Individual Level Correlates of National Identification"
  • Clark Gibson, "The Good Rains Effect on Politics"
  • Alexander Lee and Kenneth Schultz, "Comparing British and French Colonial Legacies: A Discontinuity Analysis of Cameroon"
  • Danielle Jung and James Long, "Why Vote? Mobilization, Sanctioning and the African 'D' Term"
  • Jeremy Horowitz, "Ethnic Groups and Campaign Targeting in Kenya's 2007 Election"
  • Jonas Hjort, "Misallocation and the Optimal Organization of Production: Microevidence from the 2008 Kenyan Political"
  • Claire Adida, David Laitin and Marie-Anne Valfort, "Integrating into Europe: Identifying a Muslim Effect"
  • Eric Kramon, "Vote Buying and Turnout in Kenya's 2002 Elections"


  • 15-16 May 2009, UCLA
  • Pierre Englebert and Caryn Peiffer, "Vulnerability, Path Dependence and Donor Leverage in African Democratic Experiments"
  • Sarah Baird and Craig McIntosh, "Targeting in a Community Driven Development Program: Applications and Acceptance in Tanzania's TASAF"
  • Leo Arriola, "Ethnic Protest in Ethiopia: The Politics of Mobilization and Policing in Oromia Region"
  • Sarah Knoesen, "The Politics of Distribution in South Africa"
  • Kim Dionne, "Local Demand for a Global Intervention: Policy Priorities in the time of AIDS"
  • Rachel Glennerster, Ted Miguel and Alex Rothenberg, "Collective Action in Diverse Sierra Leone Communities"
  • Tyson Roberts, "Liberalization, Resource Endowments and Private Capital Flows in Sub-Saharan Africa"


  • 5-6 December 2008, UC Berkeley
  • Clark Gibson, "What Explains the African Vote? Using Exit Poll Data from Kenya to Explore Ethnicity and Government Performance in Vote Choice"
  • Mark Rosenberg, "A Bayesian Model of Single Party Dominance"
  • Nicholai Lidow, "A Model of Resources and Rebel Organization"
  • Edward Miguel, "Does Education Change Political Attitudes? Evidence from a Kenyan School Experiment" [additional tables]
  • Jennifer Brass, "Why Do NGOs Go Where They Go? Evidence from Kenya"
  • Clair Null, "Warm Glow, Information and Inefficient Charitable Giving"
  • Lydia Lundgren, "Questioning Ethnic Politics in Sierra Leone"


  • 16-17 May 2008, UCLA
  • Claire Adida, "Too Close for Comfort? Immigrant-Host Relations in sub-Saharan Africa"
  • Leonard Arriola, "A Theory of Opposition Coordination"
  • Jeremy Weinstein, "Policing Politicians: Citizen Empowerment and Political Accountability in Africa"
  • Edward Miguel, "Civil War"
  • Elizabeth Carlson, "The Relative Salience of Ethnicity and Candidate Quality to African Voters: A Survey Experiment in Uganda"
  • John McCauley "Social Insurance in Times of Crisis: A Natural Experiment in Ghana"
  • Mary Kay Gugerty, "Collective Action and the Emergence of Private Governance Among NGOs: Evidence from Africa"
  • Elizabeth Carlson, Brian Min and Daniel Posner, "Using Satellite Imagery of Night Lights to Study Patronage and Politics in Africa"


  • 14-15 December 2007, Stanford
  • Sarah Knoesen, "Public Goods Provision in South Africa"
  • Pierre Englebert, "The Domestic Currency of International Sovereignty"
  • Jenny Aker, "Does Digital Divide or Provide? The Impact of Cell Phones on Grain Markets in Niger"
  • Craig McIntosh, "Using Donor-Driven Changes to Identify the Impact of Aid on African Governance"
  • Daniel Young, "Politics Without Positions: Party Loyalty and Voting Behavior in Malawi"
  • Karen Ferree, Clark Gibson, and Barak Hoffman, "Social Diversity and Duverger: Evidence from South African Elections"
  • Michael Kevane, "Rainfall in Darfur Prior to the Conflict of 2003"
  • Pam Jakiela, "How Fair Shares Compare: Evidence from Two Cultures"


  • 20-21 April 2007, Stanford
  • Benn Eifert, "Infrastructure and Market Structure in Least Developed Countries"
  • Audrey Sacks and Margaret Levi, "Measuring Government Effectiveness and its Consequences for Social Welfare"
  • Leo Arriola, "The Political Economy of Opposition Coordination"
  • *Nathan Nunn, "The Long Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades"
  • Barak Hoffman, "Assessing the Quality of Local Government in South Africa"
  • John McCauley and Daniel Posner, "African Borders as Sources of Natural Experiments"
  • Jeremy Horowitz, "The Uses and Abuses of Ethnic Divisions: Mobilization Strategies in Multi-Ethnic Democracies"


  • 1-2 December 2006, UCLA
  • Clark Gibson and Barak Hoffman, "Ethnicity and Political Accountability in Africa"
  • Michael Kevane, "The Rhetoric of Anti-Intervention in Darfur"
  • Zachariah Mampilly, "Explaining Variation in the Provision of Services by Rebel Groups"
  • Edward Miguel, "Spring Cleaning: Results from a Randomized Evaluation of Source Water Quality Improvement"
  • Daniel Posner and Daniel Young, "The Institutionalization of Political Power in Africa"
  • Tyson Roberts, ""An International Political Economy Theory of Democratic Transition"


  • 14-15 April 2006, UC Berkeley
  • John Bellows and Edward Miguel, "War and Local Institutions in Sierra Leone"
  • Jean Ensminger, "Designing Development: A Case Study in Failure and Corruption in Rural Africa"
  • Karen Ferree and Jeremy Horowitz, "Identity Voting and Malawi's Regional Census"
  • Pierre Englebert and Katharine Boyle, "The Primacy of Politics in Separatist Dynamics"
  • James Long and Jeremy Horowitz, "Democratic Survival in Multi-Ethnic Countries"
  • Craig McIntosh, "The Relationship Between Health Care Provision and AIDS Prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa"
  • Daniel Posner, "African Borders as Sources of Natural Experiments"
  • Peter York, "Chieftaincy as Rival Governance in Ghana"


  • 14-15 October 2005, Santa Clara University
  • Clark Gibson and Barak Hoffman, "Fiscal Governance and Public Services: Evidence from Tanzania and Zambia"
  • Peter York, "Chieftaincy as Rival Governance"
  • Michael Kevane, "The Cost of Getting Books Read in Rural Africa: Estimates from a Survey of Library Use in Burkina Faso"
  • Carl LeVan, "Memo on Coalition Bargaining and Power Sharing in Plural Societies"
  • David Laitin, "Random Narratives to Complement Statistical Findings in Regard to Civil War Onsets: Methodology and Nigeria"
  • Jeremy Weinstein, "Disentangling the Determinants of Successful Demobilization and Reintegration"
  • Chris Blattman, "Survey of Soldiers in Northern Uganda"
  • Clark Gibson and Barak Hoffman, "Political Accountability and Taxes: A Research Memo"


  • 13-14 May 2005, UCLA
  • Melissa Gonzalez-Brenes, "Contracting on Fertility: A Model of Marriage in Africa"
  • Don Rothchild, "Problems in Applying Executive Power Sharing to Africa: The Impact of Sequencing on Political Consolidation"
  • *James Gibson, "Overcoming Land Injustices: An Experimental Investigation into the Justice and Injustice of Land Squatting in South Africa"
  • Chris Blattman, "Commodities and Conflict: A Re-examination of the Facts"
  • Carl LeVan, "Dictators, Democrats, and Political Coalitions: Government Performance in an African Country"
  • Nahomi Ichino, "Who Has Contact with Politicians?"
  • Clark Gibson, "Aid and Democracy in Africa"
  • Michael Kevane, "Nation-building, Multiculturalism, and Civil Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Analysis of Imagery on Postage Stamps"


  • 17-18 December 2004, Caltech
  • Pierre Englebert, "Should I Stay or Should I Go? Compliance and Defiance to National Integration in Barotseland and Casamance"
  • *Robert Bates, "Probing the Sources of Political Order"
  • Daniel Posner, "The Implications of Constructivism for Studying the Relationship Between Ethnic Diversity and Economic Growth"
  • Craig McIntosh, "Beliefs and Relief: The Impact of Political Uncertainty on Small-Business Behavior in Uganda"
  • Edward Miguel, "Incentives to Learn"
  • Melissa Gonzalez-Brenes, "Domestic Violence and Household Decision-making: Evidence from East Africa"
  • Catherine Duggan, "Do Different Coups have Different Implications for Investment? Some Intuitions and a Test with a New Dataset"
  • Daniel Posner and Jeremy Weinstein, "Measuring 'Ethnic Technology': A Draft Experimental Protocol"


  • 4-5 June 2004, UCSD
  • Mary Kay Gugerty, "Collective Action and Representation in National NGO Umbrella Associations"
  • Susan Hyde, "Domestic Consequences of International Election Monitoring"
  • Craig McIntosh, "Beliefs and Relief: The Impact of Political Uncertainty on Small Business Behavior in Uganda"
  • Daniel Posner, "Regime Change and Ethnic Cleavages in Africa"
  • *Leonard Wantchekon, "Ethnicity, Gender and the Demand for Public Goods: Experimental Evidence from Benin"
  • Daniel Young, "Party Dominance in Africa's Multiparty Elections"


  • 12-13 March 2004, Pomona College
  • Alicia Bannon, Edward Miguel, and Daniel Posner, "Sources of Ethnic Identification in Africa"
  • *Michael Bratton, "Learning About Democracy in Africa: Awareness, Performance, and Experience"
  • Karen Ferree, "Ethnicity and Electoral Volatility in Recent African Elections"
  • Clark Gibson and Barak Hoffman, "The Effects of Foreign Aid on Bureaucracies",
  • Kimuli Kasara, "Ethnic Geography, Democracy, and the Taxation of Agriculture in Africa"
  • Michael Kevane, "Dim Delobson of Upper Volta"


  • 5-6 December 2003, UCLA
  • Melissa Gonzalez-Brenes, "Domestic Violence, Bargaining and Fertility in Rural Tanzania"
  • Pierre Englebert, "Let's Stick Together: Understanding Africa's Secessionist Deficit"
  • Nahomi Ichino, "'Tournament' Parties in Nigeria"
  • *Jennifer Widner, "Constitution Writing and Conflict Resolution in Africa"
  • Daniel Young, "A Close-up of Voter Turnout: Survey Evidence from Africa"


  • 2-3 May 2003, UCLA
  • *William Easterly, "Can Foreign Aid Buy Growth?"
  • Barak Hoffmann, "Development Despots: Foreign Aid, Domestic Politics, and the Quality of Governance"
  • Edward Miguel, Shanker Satyanath, and Ernest Sergenti, "Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach"
  • Daniel Posner, "The Political Salience of Cultural Difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas are Allies in Zambia and Adversaries in Malawi"


  • 31 January-1 February 2003, UCLA
  • Mary Kay Gugerty, "You Can't Save Alone: Testing Theories of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations in Kenya"
  • Edward Miguel and Farhan Zaidi, "Do Politicians Reward their Supporters? Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Ghana"
  • *Donald Rothchild, "Assessing Africa's Two-Phase Peace Implementation Process: Power Sharing and Democratization"
  • Edward Miguel, "Poverty and Witch Killing"


  • 27-28 September 2002, UCLA
  • Pierre Englebert, "Research Note on Congo's Nationalist Paradox"
  • Clark Gibson, "Dictators with Empty Pockets: A Political Concessions Model of Africa's Democratization"
  • Mary Kay Gugerty, "The Impact of Outside Funding on Community Organizations of the Disadvantaged"
  • Michael Kevane, "Why Study Gender Issues in the Economies of Sub-Saharan Africa?"
  • Ted Miguel, "Tribe or Nation? Nation-Building and Public Goods in Kenya versus Tanzania"
  • Daniel Posner, "Ethnic Identity, Collective Action, and Conflict: An Experimental Approach"
  • Smita Singh, "Multiparty Competition, Founding Elections and Political Business Cycles in Africa"