In the first chapter of this dissertation, the causal effect of the Obama for America Get-out-the-Vote program is estimated using a quasi-experimental design and data from North Carolina. The Obama for America campaign produced a continuous support score for each voter that corresponded to the probability the voter would support Obama. Anybody scored above 65 was considered a 'supporter'. Having a support score just over 65 meant that a voter received on average 0.058 more contacts during the campaign. Corresponding to the increase in contacts, sporadic voters with support scores just over 65 were 1.9% more likely to vote early. The estimated treatment on the treated effect is that each Obama for America contact increased the probability of turnout by 24% among sporadic voters during the early voting period.;In the second chapter, which is co-authored with Professor Edward Miguel, we study the brutal 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war using nationally representative household data on conflict experiences, postwar economic outcomes, local politics and collective action. Individuals whose households directly experienced more intense war violence are robustly more likely to attend community meetings, more likely to join local political and community groups, and more likely to vote. Tests using prewar controls and alternative samples suggestion selection into victimization is unlikely to be driving the results. More speculatively, the findings could help partially explain the rapid postwar political and economic recoveries observed in Sierra Leone and after several other recent African civil wars.;The third chapter investigates how youth with parents in the rural areas affected by the South African drought of 2003 responded to this negative shock. Youth with parents in urban areas are used as a comparison group in order to distinguish the effect of the drought from other events that may have been happening simultaneously. Youth with rural parents significantly increase the amount they are looking for work during these months, and this is not due to changes in schooling or employment. Unfortunately severe attrition prevents precise estimates of the return to the observed increase in job search.
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