Abstract:
In three essays, this dissertation analyzes how household behaviors affect the outcomes of anti-poverty programs and firm performances. Specifically, Essay I and II examine the impact of household decision-making mechanisms on household welfare in the presence of transfer and loan programs in Ethiopia. Essay III discusses the impact of mobile access by households on firm performance in Ethiopia. Using the household fixed effects model with instrumental variable regression method, Essay I analyzes the impact of aid transfers in Ethiopia via the channel of innate structure of bargaining dynamics. In examining general gender effects of bargaining power driven by loan programs, Essay II employs the propensity matching method and household-level fixed effect model. Finally, by utilizing an exogenous shock of transitioning from the 2G to 3G broadband network in 2008 in Ethiopia with the differences-in-differences and triple differences methods, Essay III investigates whether enhanced access to mobile communication increases competition as price information is more widely available to customers.
