Jared Gars

I am an agricultural economist that approaches agricultural policy issues with field experiments informed by behavioral economic models. I have worked both in developed and developing countries on topics including belief updating, information responsiveness, technology adoption, and contract design.

Previously, I was a junior economist in Trade and Development (TAD) at OECD and a PODER research fellow at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. I received my PhD from UW-Madison in 2018.


Email: gars.jared [at] gmail.com  /  Office: 2 rue Andre Pascal  /  Curriculum Vitae


Publications

Can differences in individual learning explain patterns of technology adoption? Evidence on heterogeneous learning patterns and hybrid rice adoption in Bihar, India
with Patrick Ward. World Development, 115:178-189 (2019)


Working papers

Media and Motivation: The Effect of Performance Pay on Writers and Content
with Ivan Balbuzanov and Emilia Tjernström. (New draft coming soon)

Confidence and Information Usage: Evidence from Soil Testing in India
with Ram Fishman, Avinash Kishore, Yoav Rothler and Patrick Ward (Submitted)

Seeds of Uncertainty: Information, Subjective Expectations, and Technology Adoption
with Emilia Tjernström. (New draft coming soon)


Works in Progress

Stereotypes and political attitudes in the age of Coronavirus: Empirical evidence from Italy
with Dante Donati and Nandan Rao (Data collected completed)

Impacts of Privatization on Market Performance in Dakar, Senegal
with Jean-François Houde, Molly Lipscomb, and Laura Schechter (Data collected completed)

Using Market Mechanisms to Increase the Take-up of Improved Sanitation
with Shoshana Griffith, Jean-François Houde, Molly Lipscomb, Mbaye Mbeguere, Sarah Nehrling, Laura Schechter, and Siyao Jessica Zhu (Data collected completed)

Practical Design Principles for Agri-Environmental Schemes
with Santiago Guerrero, Jussi Lankoski, and Laure Kuhfuss (Data collection ongoing)

Incentivizing collective action to fight the spread of COVID-19: Testing the effectiveness of a low-cost, scaleable, community-driven intervention
with Jana Gallus, John List, Jessica Saleska, Julia Seither and Karen Ye (Under preparation)


Policy Reports

Housing policies for sustainable and inclusive cities: How national governments can deliver affordable housing and compact urban development. (2020)
with A. Moreno-Monroy, T. Matsumoto, A. Schumann, R. Ahrend, and J. Crook. Coalition for Urban Transitions and OECD

The growth of metropolitan areas in: Cities in the World: A New Perspective on Urbanisation. (2020)
OECD Urban Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris