Ashley Pople

I study how to protect people from shocks, particularly through anticipatory cash transfers, climate adaptation, and labour markets. I am an economist at the World Bank in the environment team for South Asia, and a coordinating lead author on adaptation finance for the IPCC's Working Group II. Before joining the World Bank, I led the research agenda on anticipatory action at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York and consulted for the Centre for Disaster Protection. I completed my PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford, where I remain affiliated with the Centre for the Study of African Economies and the Mind & Behaviour Research Group. 

Working papers

Group Coaching and the Scalability of Graduation Programs: Evidence from Three Field Experiments

with E. Beam, L. Brune, N. Das, S. Dercon, N. Goldberg, R. Haque, D. Karlan, M. Khan, D. Parkerson, Y. Sawada, C. Udry and R. Zizzamia. Conditionally accepted at American Economic Review: Insights. 

VoxDev blog

The importance of being early: Anticipatory cash transfers for flood-affected households*

with R. Hill, S. Dercon and B. Brunckhorst. Conditionally accepted at the World Bank Economic Review.

New York Times  |  ADB-IEA Innovative Policy Award | Vox | Centre for Global Development blog | VoxDev Podcast | CSAE podcast | Outrage and Optimism Podcast 

*Previously titled "Anticipatory cash transfers in climate disaster response"

Learning to see the world's opportunities: Memory, mental experiencing, and the economic lives of the vulnerable

with N. Ashraf, G. Bryan, A. Delfino, E. Holmes, L. Iacovone and C.J. Meyer. Revise and resubmit at the Journal of Political Economy. 

BBC Ideas | Bocconi video

Grants: J-PAL Post-Primary Education; J-PAL Jobs and Opportunity; IPA Peace and Recovery; LSE IGA-Rockefeller Research and Impact Fund; J-PAL Gender and Economic Agency Initiative

AI and services-led growth: Evidence from Indian job adverts

with A. Copestake, M. Marczinek and K. Stapleton. Revise and resubmit at the Journal of Human Resources.

The Economist | IMF Research Perspectives | Ideas for India | Ideas for India (Hindi)

The earlier the better? Cash transfers for drought response in Niger

with P. Premand, S. Decon, M. Vinez, and S. Brunelin

Policy brief

Work in progress

Acting early under uncertainty: Anticipatory cash transfers in the context of flood disasters

with S. Dercon, R. Kamal, P. Kaur Matta, M. Sulaiman, H. Timmis and R. Zizzamia

Grants: J-PAL King Climate Action Initiative and Weiss Asset Management Foundation 

Heat insurance at work

with A. Jalal, P. Simpson, K. Srivastava and E. Zou

Grants: J-PAL King Climate Action Initiative, IGC, and Weiss Asset Management Foundation

From farms to jobs at the forest frontier: An experiment in D.R. Congo

with S. Dercon, S. Desbureaux, G. Mutaka, and R.G. Nikiema

Grants: Darwin Initiative and John Fell Fund

Embankments: Climate beliefs, behaviours and adaptation

with J. Rexer, S. Sharma and M. Triyana

Search frictions and self-selection in job mataching

with E. Krkoska, C.J. Meyer and K. Ray

Grants: PEDL Exploratory Research Grant, JPAL JOI, IPA WWES

Policy publications and writing

A Breath of Change: Solutions for Cleaner Air in the Indo-Gangetic Plains and Himalayan Foothills. Book co-edited with M. Heger and M. Cros. World Bank, December 2025.

Adaptive social protection to support poor and vulnerable people in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Nepal, and Niger. Chapter in "Rising to the Challenge: Success Stories and Strategies for Achieving Climate Adaptation and Resilience". World  Bank, October 2024.

Anticipatory Action: Lessons for the Future. Frontiers in Climate, December 2022.

The price of inaction during the COVID-19 crisis, Center for Global Development, July 2020.