My research focuses on human resources and development, using methods and insights from behavioural and experimental economics. I am currently working on research in health and labor, service delivery, education, and conflict.

Research Groups:  Behavioural and Experimental Development Economics; Centre for Behavioural and Experimental Social Science;
Health Policy and Practice

Journal papers

Dillon A., E.Bardasi, K. Beegle, P. Serneels, 2011, Explaining variation in child labor statistics, Journal of Development Economics, prepublished online  

Bardasi E., K. Beegle, A. Dillon, P. Serneels, 2011, Do labor statistics depend on how and to whom the questions are asked? Results from a survey experiment in Tanzania. World Bank Economic Review,  prepublished online

Serra D., P. Serneels, A. Barr, 2011, Intrinsic Motivations and the Nonprofit Health Sector, Personality and Individual Differences,Vol 51, Issue 3, August 2011, Pages 309-314.

Serneels P., J. G. Montalvo, G. Pettersson, T. Lievens, D. Butera, A. Kidanu, 2010, Who wants to work in a rural health post? The role of intrinsic motivation, rural background and faith based institutions in Rwanda and Ethiopia, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 88, 342-349. 

Barr A., P. Serneels, 2009, Reciprocity in the workplace, Experimental Economics, 12 (1), 99

Barr A., M. Lindelow, P. Serneels, 2009, Corruption in public service delivery: an experimental analysis, Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, 72 (1) 225-239

Serneels P., 2009, Book review "Globalization, Labor Markets and Inequality in India", Journal of South Asian Development, 4(2)

Serneels P., 2008, Human capital revisited: the role of experience and education when controlling for performance and cognitive skills, Labour Economics, 15, 1143-1161

Serneels P., 2007,The nature of unemployment among young men in urban Ethiopia, Review of Development Economics, 11 (1), 170-183.

Serneels P., J. Montalvo, M. Lindelow, A. Barr, 2007, For public service or for money: understanding geographical imbalances in the health workforce, Health Policy and Planning, 22(3),128-138. 

Lindelow M. and Serneels P., 2006, The performance of health workers in Ethiopia, Social Science and Medicine, 62 (9), 2225-2235.

Books and monographs:

Lievens T., P.Serneels, S.Garbarino., P.Quartey, 2011, Incentives to work. Ghana Health Worker Study, The World Bank, Washington DC, in press

Lievens T., P.Serneels and J. D. Butera, 2010, Diversity in Career Preferences of Future Health Workers in Rwanda: Where, Why and for How Much?, The World Bank, Washington DC

Serra D., P.Serneels, M.Lindelow, J. G. Montalvo, 2010, Discovering the Real World – Health Workers’ Early Work Experience and Career Preferences in Ethiopia, The World Bank, Washington DC

Paci P., and P. Serneels (eds), June 2007, Employment and Shared Growth. The Role of Labour Mobility for Development, The World Bank, Washington DC, with contributions from Gary Fields (Cornell), John Haltiwanger (Maryland), Francis Teal (Oxford), Chris Woodruff (UC San Diego/Warwick)

Book sections and chapters: 

Serneels P., Internal geographic imbalances of health workers, forthcoming, Chapter 24 in Culyer T., Encyclopedia of Health Economics, Elsevier

Leonard K., P. Serneels, M. Brock, 2011, The role of motivation for health service delivery, in Scheffer R., A. Soucat, 'Human resources for health. A new look at the crisis', University of  California Berkeley and The World Bank, forthcoming.

Ensor T., P. Serneels, T. Lievens, 2011, Working for the public or private sector? Or for both?, in Scheffer R., A. Soucat, 'Human resources for health. A new look at the crisis', University of California Berkeley and The World Bank, forthcoming.

Leonard K., M. Masatu, P. Serneels, 2011, Health worker performance, in Scheffer R., A. Soucat, 'Human resources for health. A new look at the crisis', University of California Berkeley and The World Bank, forthcoming.

Lievens T., M. Lindelow and P. Serneels, 2009, Understanding health workforce issues: a selective guide to the use of qualitative methods, in DalPoz M. and A. Soucat, 'Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluation of Human Resources for  Health', World Health Organization and The World Bank

Serneels P., M. Lindelow, T. Lievens, 2008, Qualitative research to inform quantitative analysis: health workers’ absenteeism in two countries, in Amin, S., J. Das and M. Goldstein ‘Are You Being Served? New Tools for Measuring Service Delivery', The World Bank

Gutierrez, C., C. Orecchia, P. Paci, P. Serneels, 2009, Does employment generation really matter for poverty reduction? In Kanbur R. and J. Svejnar ‘Labor Markets and Economic Development’', Routledge. (An earlier version appeared as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4432)     

Sandefur J., P. Serneels, F. Teal, 2007, African poverty through the lens of labor economics: earnings and mobility in three countries, in Paci and Serneels, ‘Employment and Shared Growth. The Role of Labor Mobility for Development’, 2007, The World Bank. (A previous version appeared as GPRG Working Paper 060)

Paci P. and P.Serneels, 2007, Labor, growth and poverty, in Paci and Serneels, ‘Employment and
Shared Growth. The Role of Labor Mobility for Development’, 2007 The World Bank

• I teach Microeconomics of Development and Econometrics at the Masters level, and Development Economics, Micro-economics and Economic Aspects of sub-Sahara Africa at the undergraduate level.

• I co-direct the Masters in Development Economics.