Research

Research & publications

My research focuses on how labor-market institutions, social norms, household constraints, and development programs shape employment, welfare, and opportunity.

Academic journal articles

Journal of Development Economics · Published 2022

What Do Jobseekers Want? Comparing Methods to Estimate Reservation Wages and the Value of Job Attributes

Brian Feld, Abdelrahman Nagy, and Adam Osman. Journal of Development Economics, 159, 102978.

Abstract

This study compares four methods for eliciting jobseekers’ reservation wages and their valuations of non-wage job attributes in Cairo. The estimates are sensitive to the elicitation method, and discrete-choice experiments perform best in the study’s validation exercise.

Journal of Development Economics · Accepted registered report · 2025

What’s in the Name? Volunteer and Employment Opportunities in Egypt

Brian Feld, Marieke Kleemans, and Abdelrahman Nagy. Stage 1 accepted registered report, Journal of Development Economics.

Abstract

This registered study examines whether describing otherwise comparable paid work as volunteering rather than employment changes women’s willingness to apply in rural Egypt, and whether involving other household members in recruitment affects application decisions and later outcomes.

Featured in VoxDev

Evidence on childcare and women’s employment in Egypt

VoxDev’s review, Realising childcare’s full potential in low- and middle-income countries, features our Egypt study among the evidence it synthesizes from randomized evaluations of childcare interventions.

Child Care Subsidies, Employment Services and Women’s Labor Market Outcomes in Egypt: First Midline Results

Stefano Caria, Bruno Crépon, Hala ElBehairy, Noha Fadlalmawla, Caroline Krafft, Abdelrahman Nagy, Lili Mottaghi, Nahla Zeitoun, and Souraya El Assiouty. G²LM|LIC Working Paper No. 73.

Book chapter

Working papers

Evidence synthesis & policy research

Selected research in progress

  • Measuring the Impact of Graduating the Ultra-Poor in Egypt (Bab Amal) at National ScaleWith Ragui Assaad, William Pariente, and Christine Valente
  • From Debt to Detention: Supporting Women Borrowers at Risk of Imprisonment for Loan Default in EgyptWith Adam Osman, Kareem Haggag, and Ahmed Ahmed
  • Beyond Childcare: A Whole-Family Approach Combining Quality Nurseries, Food Support, and Social Norms InterventionsWith Bruno Crépon, Yassmin El Khatib, and Caroline Krafft
  • The Impact of Micro-Job Fairs and Social Norms Interventions on Female Labor Force Participation in JordanWith Matilde João Mota, Bruno Crépon, and Eleonora Nillesen
  • Faith and Flexibility: Can Sharia-Compliant Microfinance Raise Female Labor Force Participation?With Bruno Crépon, Eleonora Nillesen, and Amira Al Shal