Nava Ashraf
There are 3 articles for this faculty member.
About Faculty in this Article:
Nava Ashraf is an assistant professor in the Negotiation, Organizations and Markets unit at Harvard Business School.
Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines
| Authors: | Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, and Wesley Yin |
|---|---|
| Published: | April 29, 2009 |
| Paper Release Date: | March 2009 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Does access to personal savings increase female decision-making power in the household? The answer could be important for policymakers looking to increase female empowerment. HBS professor Nava Ashraf and colleagues developed a commitment savings product called a SEED (Save, Earn, Enjoy Deposits) account with a small, rural bank in the Philippines. The SEED account requires that clients commit not to withdraw funds that are in the account until they reach a goal date or amount, but it does not explicitly commit the client to continue depositing funds after opening the account. This working paper examines the impact of the commitment savings product on both self-reported decision-making processes within the household and the subsequent household allocation of resources.
Published in 2008
Finding Missing Markets (and a disturbing epilogue): Evidence from an Export Crop Adoption and Marketing Intervention in Kenya
| Authors: | Nava Ashraf, Xavier Giné, and Dean Karlan |
|---|---|
| Published: | March 11, 2008 |
| Paper Release Date: | February 2008 |
| Feature: | Working Papers |
Why do farmers continue to grow crops for local markets when crops for export markets are thought to be much more profitable? Answers may include missing information about the profitability of these crops, lack of access to the necessary capital to make the switch possible, lack of infrastructure necessary to bring the crops to export outlets, high risk of the export markets, lack of human capital necessary to adopt successfully a new agricultural technology, and misperception by researchers and policymakers about the true profit opportunities and risk of crops grown for export markets. Ashraf and colleagues conducted an experimental trial with DrumNet, a social enterprise of Pride Africa, a nongovernmental organization, to evaluate whether a package of services can help farmers adopt, finance, and market export crops, and thus earn more income. This experiment was motivated by a recent push in development to build sustainable interventions that help complete missing markets.
Published in 2006
Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?
| Q&A with: | Nava Ashraf |
|---|---|
| Published: | January 16, 2006 |
| Feature: | Research & Ideas |
Adam Smith is best known for The Wealth of Nations, but professor Nava Ashraf believes another of his works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, presaged contemporary behavioral economics.
