CAGE Working Papers August 2026
CAGE Working Papers August 2026
Tuesday 1 Sep 2026CAGE research papers draw on our global academic network of research associates and address topics aligned to our four core themes.
Contact cage.centre@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window for more information on submitting research to our working paper series or to be added to our mailing list.
Authors: Alexandra L. Cermeño, Alessandra Quintigliano, Jacob Weisdorf
Theme: Global Economic History
Summary: This paper examines whether the long-run economic benefits of Christian missionary activity persist in Africa’s historical borderlands. Combining georeferenced data on missionary stations with satellite night-time luminosity, household wealth, and human capital measures, it finds that the positive relationship between missionary proximity and contemporary development is substantially weaker near historical homeland borders. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of development interventions depends not only on the intervention itself but also on the surrounding institutional environment.
821 Do Retailers Price Gouge During Supply Shocks?Link opens in a new window
Authors: Johannes Brinkmann, Nikhil Datta
Theme: Responsive Public Policy
Summary: This paper examines how a major supply shock affects retail competition and firms’ ability to pass higher costs on to consumers. Using the 2022 oil-price shock following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, alongside daily fuel prices and millions of geolocated consumer searches in Great Britain, it finds that the shock dramatically increased price-searching and reduced retail margins. The results suggest that rapid price increases heighten consumer attention and price sensitivity, strengthening competition and limiting retailers’ ability to raise margins.
Authors: Nikhil Datta, Amrita Kulka, Jawad Wehbe
Theme: Responsive Public Policy
Summary: This paper introduces housing search data as a new measure of latent demand for locations, using billions of property searches across Great Britain between 2019 and 2024. Across applications in public health, environmental science, and economics, it shows that search behavior captures demand changes obscured by transaction data. The findings reveal temporary shifts following COVID-19 and flooding, while new housing supply does not increase local demand. The results highlight how relying on transaction data can lead to misguided spatial policy decisions.
819 Building resilience through psychological interventionLink opens in a new window
Authors: Michelle Escobar Carías, Victoria Baranov, Sonia Bhalotra, Pietro Biroli and Joanna Maselko
Theme: Gender, Health and Wellbeing
Summary: This paper examines whether psychological interventions can build resilience to future economic and social shocks. Exploiting a randomized CBT-based intervention for prenatally depressed mothers in Pakistan and variation in COVID-19 restrictions six years later, it finds that treated women experienced less anxiety, depression, functional impairment, and relationship conflict during the pandemic. The intervention strengthened psychological resources including self-efficacy, locus of control, and social support, suggesting that mental health investments can generate lasting benefits beyond the original treatment.
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