A Field Experiment to Improve Women's Mobility in Pakistan

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 microfinance organization in Lahore, the study will randomize women's access to personal motorized scooters, 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 one of Pakistan's largest cities, our results of this study will have broader implications for rapidly urbanizing areas across South Asia and other developing countries.