Layane Alhorr
Layane is a researcher working at the intersection of development, labor, and behavioral economics. Using natural and field experiments, she studies ways to promote inclusive growth for marginalized communities, with a focus on the role that entrepreneurship and digital technologies play across cultures. In one strand of her research, she focuses on how social norms impact business growth and how firms in turn adapt to these. Her work includes investigating the promise of social media for female entrepreneurship in conservative settings and how store credit, or borrowing requests from customers to business owners, impact markets. In an overlapping agenda, she focuses on the role of digitalization on society, with work on the promise of remote work for refugees and on the effect of social media on religiosity.
Layane obtained her PhD in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Prior to her PhD, she was a researcher at JPAL MIT and spent time in Kenya working on digital financial inclusion projects. As a Fulbright scholar, she pursued a Master's degree in International and Development Economics at Yale University.