Principal Investigators: Natalya Adam-Rahman and Sarah Thompson

Despite high rates of familial poverty in Pakistan, the country has low rates of women's LFP compared to countries with similar GDPs. These low rates of LFP can contribute to low levels of women's economic agency. This project uses an experiment to alleviate a key constraint to LFP: access to safe and reliable transportation. In partnership with a a motorbike training institute, NGOs, and microfinance organization in Karachi, our study randomizes women's access to personal motorized motorbikes, the most commonly used way by which men arrive to work in this context. With survey data, weekly SMS data collection, and monthly odometer checks, it will assess how this shock women's mobility can affect LFP and agency. Given the study's setting in Pakistan's largest city, our results of this study will have broader implications for rapidly urbanizing areas across South Asia and other developing countries.

This study is generously supported by IGC Pakistan and J-PAL's Gender and Economic Agency Initiative. It launched in August 2022, and as of March 2023 is recruiting for a second batch of female riders.