The Economics of Child-Sponsorship

While I was at a concert in college, I responded to a flyer requesting volunteers to sponsor a child overseas. For years I read the letters from this little girl in El Salvador. Ruth seemed happy to be sponsored, and I was happy to sponsor her. But there was always a nagging voice in the back of my mind that asked, “Does this stuff really work?” One day, after reflecting again on this question, I decided to find out. One of the advantages of working as a development economist is that sometimes my job makes me feel a little bit like Indiana Jones—we’re both professors, and we both get to…