Graduate School

Giulia Buccione Honored with Joukowsky Prize for Pioneering Dissertation on Religion and Water Conservation in the Middle East and North Africa Region

Giulia Buccione, who completed her Ph.D. in Economics in May of 2024, is recognized for her dissertation, Culture, Agency, and Water: Essays on the Development of the Middle East and North Africa. She was selected for the Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award in the social sciences.

Giulia Buccione imaage with an outdoor backgroundGiulia Buccione's dissertation exemplifies a seamless integration of applied microeconomic research with a deep sensitivity to the socio-cultural contexts of the Middle East and North Africa. Comprising three sections, her thesis focuses on the interaction between cultural norms and the process of economic development, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Specifically, the dissertation explores two structural constraints to the region’s development, namely rising water scarcity, and gender segregation, highlighting how culture is a critical dimension for the success of development interventions. 

Stelios Michalopoulos, Eastman Professor of Political Economy shares, “what distinguishes Giulia’s research inquiry is the breadth of the topics she has engaged with both methodologically and in terms of substance.” Buccione examines topics from the rise of Pentecostals in Brazil and its consequences, to the long-run political effects of the separation of church and state, looking at the experience of the Papal State, to the role of the Arab slave trade and the diffusion of Islam in Africa, to the importance of religious leaders on collective adaptation to water scarcity.

Buccione’s primary dissertation focus is on the intersection of religious messaging and water use in Jordan through a randomized trial. With an interest in the interplay between environment and development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, she began her research with a travel grant from the King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI) at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), facilitating her collaboration with its MENA regional office (Cairo office). Her project explores how religious teachings can influence water conservation practices among women, a critical demographic in the region’s water management.

In this study, Buccione conducts a randomized control trial with 712 women in Jordan attending religious classes with 19 female religious leaders. She crafted a unique intervention where women in the treatment group received religious instruction related to water conservation, while the control group was taught a different religious lesson unrelated to water use. Her meticulous approach considered the cultural and social sensitivities of convening women in conservative settings, ensuring that her methodology was both respectful and effective. The results of her study showed significant reductions in water use, evidenced by water bill analysis, and highlighted shifts in women's perceptions of their water-saving efforts over time.

“Buccione has written an outstanding thesis. In the best tradition of the applied economics she has identified important questions and used rigorous evidence to answer these questions. She provides new perspectives on the day-to-day lives of the women in the region. This work has been driven by her own curiosity and passionate interest in the region,” shares Andrew Foster, the George and Nancy Parker Professor of Economics.

Buccione has also written a second paper that investigates the preference for filtered water over chlorinated water in Egypt, particularly in the context of tea consumption, a significant cultural practice. Through blind taste tests and an incentivized experiment, Buccione uncovered a clear dislike for the taste of chlorinated water and a willingness to pay more for filtered water. This study also delved into health perceptions, revealing that people viewed chlorinated water as less healthy compared to filtered water.

Buccione’s third paper, already published in the Journal of Development Economics, examines the impact of granting women the right to divorce in contexts previously restricted to few admissible cases for women. This policy change had profound implications for child custody, creating a natural experiment based on children's ages. Her findings demonstrated significant reductions in domestic abuse and improvements in child education among women eligible for divorce under the new law, though it did not affect their labor force participation.

Buccione's dissertation has garnered numerous accolades in addition to the Joukowsky Prize, including the Graduate Program in Development Fellowship, the Population Studies and Training Center International Fellowship, the Travel Fellowship from the Department of Economics, and the George Borts’ Prize for an outstanding Ph.D. dissertation.

Upon completing her dissertation, Buccione will join the King Center on Global Development at Stanford University for a postdoctoral position starting in September. Following this, she will take up a position as an Assistant Professor at the Center for Monetary and Financial Studies (CEMFI) in Madrid, Spain the following year.

Looking ahead, Buccione's plans include publishing additional chapters of her thesis. She is deeply honored to receive the Joukowsky Dissertation Prize, recognizing it as a testament to the mentorship and support from her advisors, partners, family, and friends.

Her dissertation, embodying the best traditions of applied economics and humanistic inquiry, not only answers pressing questions with rigorous evidence but also offers new perspectives on the daily lives of women in the Middle East. Buccione's dedication and innovative approach make her an exemplary choice for this award.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award, which stands as a testament to the incredible mentorship I have received from the Department of Economics at Brown, the investment my advisors have made in me, the efforts and expertise of many partners in the region, and the unconditional support of my family and friends. This milestone is as much theirs as it is mine,” shares Buccione.

Doctoral candidates and graduates, Mariajosé Rodríguez-Pliego, Cel Welch, Laura Heuman Lark, and Giulia Buccione were selected for the Graduate School's Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award. Prizes are awarded at the Doctoral Ceremony on May 26, 2024.