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Natalie Bau
Natalie Bau is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) research affiliate, and a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Azrieli Global Scholar. She is interested in development and education economics, with a special emphasis on the industrial organisation of education markets.
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Should low-income countries open up to foreign capital? The India experiment
In 2001 and 2006, India introduced the automatic approval of foreign direct investments of up to 51% of domestic firms’ equity to industries in which foreign investment was initially restricted. This article studies the effects of this policy change on firms and finds that better access to foreign capital reduces misallocation and stimulates growth, with the highest gains where local capital markets are least developed.
Infrastructure and economic growth: The role of airports
Given that banking sectors in low-income countries are inefficient, why don’t lenders from wealthier countries profitably lend to productive firms in these countries? One possibility is that foreign lenders lack the information to identify productive firms and the tools to monitor them.
Covid-19 and mental health: Large-scale phone survey in six Indian states
The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it the dual crises of public health and the economy, particularly in low-income settings with limited formal safety nets. Based on a large-scale phone survey conducted across six Indian states, this article finds that stricter containment measures, while potentially crucial to check the spread of the virus, are associated with worse mental health among women and higher food insecurity.