Rural Development in Peru and Russia

In Chapter 1, we study an intervention in which the Peruvian government provided public payphones to 6,509 rural villages that did not have communication services before. Findings suggest increases of 16 percent in prices received by farmers for their crops, a 23.7 percent reduction in agricultural costs, and reductions in child market and agricultural work of 13.7 and 9.2 percentage points respectively. In Chapter 2, we exploit a randomized intervention directed towards enhancing local governments’ efficiency in three regions of rural Russia (Adyghea, Penza and Perm) at the onset of a major decentralization reform. Our findings suggest that enhancing local managerial efficiency is a long-term process and that intensive interventions translate into higher satisfaction when local governments have relatively longer institutional experience and higher levels of accountability. In Chapter 3, we investigate the effects of cell phone coverage on several measures of economic development in rural Peru. Estimates suggest an increase of 7.5 percent in yearly household expenditures after coverage, and a 13.5 percent increase in the value of assets.