Appel à manifestation d’intérêt : J-PAL recherche un(e) Associé(e) de recherche pré-doctoral – République Démocratique du Congo.

Appel à manifestation d’intérêt : J-PAL recherche un(e) Associé(e) de recherche pré-doctoral – République Démocratique du Congo.

Project description:

The Research Associate will work on several ongoing researchprojects, including but not limited to the following topics:

(i) The effects of access to cities – via social networks and markets – on individuals’ economic behaviors and beliefs. This multiyear RCT examines a transportation program linking rural villages and the city of Kananga to explore how integrating into urban networks shapes participants’ livelihoods, expectations, and values.

(ii) The interaction between legal and fiscal capacity in weak state settings. An RCT in collaboration with the justice ministry, a Congolese NGO, and the provincial tax ministry seeks to examine how increasing access to justice moderated by state and nonstate actors shapes crime, property rights security, and the tax-based social contract between citizens and the state.

(iii) The effects of progressive taxation on compliance, revenues, and the social contract. An RCT in collaboration with the provincial government will examine how a more progressive property tax system shapes revenue through two key mechanisms: (a) a tighter correspondence between liability and ability to pay, and (b) higher compliance due to improved perceptions of the fairness of the tax system.

Responsibilities of the Research Associate:

• Managing daily work of a team of French-speaking field enumerators;
• Cooperating with local implementation partners in the government and civil society;
• Preparing and leading training sessions in French for field enumerators;
• Preparing and managing Open Data Kit (ODK) survey instruments;
• Cleaning survey data collected daily (Stata);
• Maintaining project databases;
• Conducting regular analysis of project data to improve collection accuracy and consistency;
• Preparing frequent progress reports to keep Principal Investigator informed of developments in the field;
• Keeping detail records of activities to ensure transparent project implementation;
• Handling communications with local stakeholders and Principal Investigator;
• Assisting the Principal Investigator in data analysis as needed;
• Preparing briefings and reports as requested by the Principal Investigator;
• Conducting literature reviews on topics relevant to the Principal Investigator’s research;
• Performing financial management tasks including expense tracking and forecasting, and financial reporting.

Qualifications :

• Master’s degree in economics or a related field;
• Strong quantitative skills and extensive experience with Stata (experience with Python and ArcGIS/QGIS preferred);
• Excellent management and organizational skills;
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills;
• Fluency in French required (native speaker or advanced fluency);
• Being detail oriented and able to work independently;
• Familiarity with randomized evaluations and econometric methods;
• Experience living in a developing country.

Duration: June 1, 2023 – June 1, 2025.

Primary supervisor: Jonathan Weigel (Assistant Professor, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley)