This thesis comprises three essays in development economics on cash transfer policies, digital platforms, and international investment strategies. The first chapter examines Iran's 2010 Universal Basic Income program, implemented to compensate for the removal of energy subsidies. Using panel data from the Household Expenditure and Income Survey (2009-2010), I show that consumption does not respond in the short run but rises by 60% of the transfer amount within one year of implementation. Access to credit and trust in government affect the marginal propensity to consume of the universal basic income. The second chapter, joint with Hossein Tohidimehr, exploits the staggered rollout of Snapp across Iranian cities (2015-2021) to study the labour market and welfare effects of ride-sharing. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we find that platform access raises employment and net household income only in larger cities, revealing significant network effects, but is accompanied by a decline in formal employment and social security coverage. The third chapter, joint with Amelia U. Santos-Paulino and Claudia Trentini, assesses the performance implications of outward foreign direct investment for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We show that SMEs experience a drop in sales growth of approximately 6% during the first three years following a cross-border greenfield investment, recovering only from the fourth year onward, an effect concentrated in manufacturing firms.
