Ted’s main research focus is African economic development, including work on the economic causes and consequences of violence; the impact of ethnic divisions on local collective action; interactions between health, education, environment, and productivity for the poor; and methods for transparent social science research. He has conducted field work in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and India. Many of the datasets used in his research are posted online, either on the relevant article page (on this website) or on Dataverse.
Featured Research
Twenty Year Economic Impacts of Deworming
Hamory, Joan, Edward Miguel, Michael Walker, Michael Kremer, and Sarah Baird
2021
Published Paper
Education and Human CapitalHealth
This study exploits a randomized school health intervention that provided deworming treatment to Kenyan children and utilizes longitudinal data to estimate impacts on economic outcomes up to 20 years
Validation of cognitive and psychosocial tools in Kenya: findings from the LOSHAK feasibility pilot
Sneha Sarah Mani, Roselyter Monchari Riang’a, Niranjani Nagarajan, Anthony K. Ngugi, Eunice Muthoni Mwangi, Muthoni Gichu, Patrick N. Mwangala, Edward Miguel, Michael Walker, Kenneth M. Langa, Joshu
2025
Published Paper
African DevelopmentHealth
Background and objectives: Adapting cognitive tests to culturally diverse and low-resource settings is essential
for expanding knowledge of cognitive health in older adults beyond high-income countrie
Destructive Behavior, Judgment, and Economic Decision-making under Thermal Stress
Ingvild Almås, Maximilian Auffhammer, Tessa Bold, Ian Bolliger, Aluma Dembo, Solomon M. Hsiang, Shuhei Kitamura, Edward Miguel, Robert Pickmans
2025
Published Paper
Environment and Climate
Accumulating evidence indicates that environmental temperature substantially affects economic outcomes and violence, but the reasons for this linkage are only partially understood. We study whether te
Ending publication bias: A values-based approach to surface null and negative results
Stephen Curry ,Eunice Mercado-Lara ,Virginia Arechavala-Gomeza,C. Glenn Begley,Christophe Bernard,René Bernard,Stefano Bertuzzi,Needhi Bhalla,Dawn Bowers,Samuel Brod,Christopher Chambers,Michael R. D
2025
Published Paper
Research Methodology
Sharing knowledge is a basic tenet of the scientific community, yet publication bias arising from the reluctance or inability to publish negative or null results remains a long-standing and deep-seate
Can Cash Transfers Save Lives? Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment in Kenya
Michael W. Walker, Nick Shankar, Edward Miguel, Dennis Egger, Grady Killeen
2025
Working Paper
African DevelopmentEducation and Human CapitalHealth
We estimate the impacts of large-scale unconditional cash transfers on child survival. One-time transfers of USD 1000 were provided to over 10,500 poor households across 653 randomized villages in Ken
Midlife cognitive testing in Africa: validity of the Harmonised Cognitive Assessment Protocol in the Kenya Life Panel Survey
Alden L Gross, Madeline Duhon, Eric Ochieng, Jean N Ikanga, William H Dow, Jinkook Lee, Michael W Walker, Michelle Layvant, Anthony Ngugi, Joshua R Ehrlich, Edward A Miguel
2025
Published Paper
African DevelopmentHealth
Cohort studies of ageing and cognitive decline typically do not begin fielding comprehensive cognitive assessments until older adulthood. However, for identifying preventable dementia risk factors, th
Contextualization of Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) in an aging population in rural low-resource settings in Africa: Experiences and Strategies Adopted to Optimize Effective Adaption of Cognitive Tests in Kenya
Roselyter Monchari Riang'a, Eunice Muthoni Mwangi, Niranjani Nagarajan, Felix Agoi, Patrick N Mwangala, Alden L Gross, Jean Ikanga, Kenneth M Langa, Edward Miguel, Muthoni Gichu, Joshua R Ehrlich, Ant
2025
Published Paper
African DevelopmentHealthOther
Cross-cultural adaptation of cognitive assessments is crucial for detecting Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADRD) in aging populations. This study documents the adaptation of the
Targeting Impact versus Deprivation
Johannes Haushofer, Paul Niehaus, Carlos Paramo, Edward Miguel, and Michael Walker
2025
Published Paper
African Development
A large literature has examined how best to target antipoverty programs to those most deprived in some sense (e.g., consumption). We examine the potential trade-off between this objective and targetin
Parent psychological well-being, home learning environment, and child development among Kenyan families
Ye Rang Park, Madeline Duhon, Kyong Ah Kwon, Amber H. Beisly, Michael Walker, Edward Miguel
2025
Published Paper
African Development
While child poverty is declining globally, many children in Sub-Saharan Africa still live in poverty and face obstacles that hinder them from achieving their full developmental potential. Parents̵
Unlocking the Benefits of Credit through Saving
Sanghamitra Warrier Mukherjee, Lauren Falcao Bergquist, Marshall Burke, Edward Miguel
2024
Published Paper
African Development
Access to microcredit has been shown to generate only modest average benefits for recipient households. We study whether other financial market frictions – in particular, lack of access to a safe pl
Will Wealth Weaken Weather Wars?
Marshall Burke, Joel Ferguson, Solomon Hsiang, Edward Miguel
2024
Published Paper
African DevelopmentEnvironment and Climate
This study estimates the moderating impact of economic development on climate-conflict linkages during 1989–2019 in Africa, the world region that in recent decades has experienced the most armed con
Meta-Analysis and Public Policy: Reconciling the Evidence on Deworming
Croke, Kevin, Joan Hamory Hicks, Eric Hsu, Michael Kremer, Ricardo Maertens, Edward Miguel, Witold Więcek
Published Paper
African DevelopmentResearch Methodology
The WHO recommends mass drug administration (MDA) in areas with >20% prevalence. Recent Cochrane meta-analyses endorse treatment of infected individuals but recommend against MDA. A theory-agnostic
Destructive behavior, economic decision-making, and judgment under thermal stress
Ingvild Almås, Maximilian Auffhammer, Tessa Bold, Ian Bolliger, Aluma Dembo, Solomon M. Hsiang, Shuhei Kitamura, Edward Miguel & Robert Pickmans
Working Paper
Accumulating evidence indicates that environmental temperature substantially affects economic outcomes and violence, but the reasons for this linkage are only partially understood. While factors exter