Research

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

Can Cash Transfers Save Lives? Evidence from a Large-Scale Experiment in Kenya

AuthorsMichael W. Walker, Nick Shankar, Edward Miguel, Dennis Egger, Grady Killeen

Year2025

Research TypeWorking Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentEducation and Human CapitalHealth

AbstractWe 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

Cohort Profile: Kenya Life Panel Survey

AuthorsEric Hsu, Edward Miguel, Eric Ochieng, and Michael Walker

Year2026

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentEducation and Human Capital

Abstract– The Kenya Life Panel Survey (KLPS) is a multigenerational longitudinal dataset originally designed to assess the impacts of a school-based deworming programme in Busia District, Kenya initiall

Climate Change, Conflict, and the Risk of Economic Collapse in Africa

AuthorsJoel Ferguson, Marshall Burke, Edward Miguel, and Solomon Hsiang

Year2026

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesEnvironment and Climate

AbstractIs human-caused climate change likely to trigger enduring economic decline in modern societies? We study whether changes in violent conflict and economic growth caused by warming could interact to deg

Preparing for an Aging Africa: Data-Driven Priorities for Economic Research and Policy

AuthorsMadeline Duhon, Edward Miguel, Amos Njuguna, Daniela Pinto Veizaga, and Michael Walker

Year2026

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentHealth

AbstractThe over 60 population in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050. Yet few African countries have implemented policies to support older populations, and little research in econo

Reproducibility and robustness of economics and political science research

AuthorsAbel Brodeur, Derek Mikola, Nikolai Cook, Edward Miguel, Fernando Hoces de la Guardia et.al

Year2026

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesResearch Methodology

AbstractScience aspires to be cumulative. Reproducibility efforts strengthen science by testing the reliability of published findings, promoting self-correction, and informing policy-making1. Computational re

Self-reported, functional, and objective health and sociodemographic characteristics among older adults in Kenya: findings from the pilot longitudinal study of health and ageing in Kenya (LOSHAK)

AuthorsEunice Muthoni Mwangi, James Orwa, Roselyter Monchari Riang'a, Niranjani Nagarajan, Felix Agoi, Patrick N. Mwangala, Alden L. Gross, Jean N. Ikanga, Kenneth M. Langa, Edward Miguel, Muthoni Gichu, Jos

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentHealth

AbstractBy 2050, the global population of individuals aged 60 years and older is projected to reach two billion, with 80% residing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Africa’s older population will

Validation of cognitive and psychosocial tools in Kenya: findings from the LOSHAK feasibility pilot

AuthorsSneha 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

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentHealth

AbstractBackground 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

AuthorsIngvild Almås, Maximilian Auffhammer, Tessa Bold, Ian Bolliger, Aluma Dembo, Solomon M. Hsiang, Shuhei Kitamura, Edward Miguel, Robert Pickmans

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesEnvironment and Climate

AbstractAccumulating 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

AuthorsStephen 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

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesResearch Methodology

AbstractSharing 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

AuthorsMichael W. Walker, Nick Shankar, Edward Miguel, Dennis Egger, Grady Killeen

Year2025

Research TypeWorking Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentEducation and Human CapitalHealth

Midlife cognitive testing in Africa: validity of the Harmonised Cognitive Assessment Protocol in the Kenya Life Panel Survey

AuthorsAlden 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

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentHealth

AbstractCohort 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

AuthorsRoselyter 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

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican DevelopmentHealthOther

AbstractCross-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

AuthorsJohannes Haushofer, Paul Niehaus, Carlos Paramo, Edward Miguel, and Michael Walker

Year2025

Research TypePublished Paper

CategoriesAfrican Development

AbstractA 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