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Poverty entails more than a scarcity of material resources—it also involves a shortage of time. To examine the causal benefits of reducing time poverty, we conducted a longitudinal feld experiment over six consecutive weeks in an urban slum in Kenya with a sample of working mothers, a population who is especially likely to experience severe time poverty. Participants received vouchers for services designed to reduce their burden of unpaid labor. We compared the efect of these vouchers against equivalently valued unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) and a neutral control condition. In contrast to our pre-registered hypotheses, a pre-registered Bayesian ANCOVA indicated that the timesaving, UCT, and control conditions led to similar increases in subjective well-being, reductions in perceived stress, and decreases in relationship conflict (Cohen’s d’s ranged from 0.25 to 0.85 during the treatment weeks and from 0.21 to 0.36 at the endline). Exploratory analyses revealed that the time-saving vouchers and UCTs produced these benefits through distinct psychological pathways. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for economic development initiatives.
In March 2020, the global pandemic was delivering a dose of volatility to the U.S. economy. Catherine Faddis, the CIO of Grace Capital, a Boston-based long-only equity manager, analyzed movements in her portfolio while eyeing previously shelved opportunities to invest in preferred stock. The case explores the characteristics of preferred stock, the investment philosophy and strategy of Grace Capital, and the decision making process behind the team at the fundamentals-based investment fund.
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Pippa Tubman Armerding joined Harvard Business School in 2017 as Executive Director for the HBS Africa Research Center, opened this year in Johannesburg, South Africa. Pippa’s work spans sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the development of cases and support for faculty research in the region. She also plays an important role in establishing and fostering relationships with companies and alumni in Africa on behalf of HBS.
A lawyer and strategist with 20 years of experience as an attorney and business professional operating across Africa, Europe and North America, Pippa has held a number of leadership roles with large multinationals working across the continent. Prior positions includes serving as Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs for Microsoft South Africa, and Director of Pan-African Strategic Initiatives for Coca-Cola South Africa.
As a graduate of Harvard College, Pippa has been an active alumnus, serving in a number of volunteer roles for the alumni community in South Africa. In addition, Pippa holds a JD from New York University, specializing in international law, and is fluent in French. Raised in Liberia, Pippa returned to Africa 13 years ago and has since lived in South Africa and Kenya.