Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Assistant Professor of Economics, New York University, Stern School of Business
Theme Leader (The Role of the Public Sector), Structural Change and Economic Growth (STEG)
Research Affiliate, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
Research Network Affiliate, CESifo
Primary field: Macroeconomics
Secondary fields: Public Finance, Development Economics, Political Economy
Email: abdou.ndiaye@nyu.edu
In Spring 2025, I will be visiting the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago
A thematic summary of my research is available here.
Working Papers
Minneapolis FED OIGI Working Paper #19230
Joshua Coven, Sebastian Golder, Arpit Gupta, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Joshua Coven, Sebastian Golder, Arpit Gupta, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Link | BibTex citation | Summary thread | Audio Overview
Media coverage: Arpitrage, The Roundup, NYU Stern Research Highlights
NBER Working Paper #31722
Meghana Gaur, John Grigsby, Jonathon Hazell, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Meghana Gaur, John Grigsby, Jonathon Hazell, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Link | BibTex citation | Summary thread | Audio Overview
Media coverage: Marginal Revolution, NYU Stern Research Highlights
NBER Working Paper #32730
Bocar A. Ba, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Roman G. Rivera, and Alexander Whitefield
Bocar A. Ba, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Roman G. Rivera, and Alexander Whitefield
CEPR Discussion Paper #18890
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Media coverage: a16z Crypto Research
- Relative Pricing and Efficient Allocation in Blockchains, November 2024
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Link | BibTex citation
Under Revision
Reject & Resubmit at Quarterly Journal of Economics
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Link | BibTex citation | Online Analytic Appendix | Online Computational Appendix
Media coverage: Chicago Fed letter
Media coverage: Chicago Fed letter
Revise & Resubmit at Journal of International Economics
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Link | BibTex citation | Summary thread
Media coverage: NPR Marketplace
Publications
Forthcoming in Journal of Monetary Economics
Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Kyle Herkenhoff, Abdoulaye Cisse, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, and Ahmadou A. Mbaye
Abstract: This paper studies the welfare effects from the provision of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in a context where formal workers represent only a small proportion of the labor market and informal workers can submit fraudulent claims for UI benefits. We model these features and allow for varying degrees of enforcement and different funding sources. We then estimate the model’s key parameters by conducting a custom labor force survey in Senegal. Our findings show that the liquidity gains are large and the moral hazard response to the UI benefits among workers is relatively small: an extra dollar of UI benefits yields a consumption-equivalent gain of 60–90 cents, which exceeds comparable estimates from U.S. calibrations by a factor of three to sixteen. We then show that the welfare gains depend on the program design: UI funded through payroll taxes delivers the greatest welfare gains but becomes infeasible when there are few formal workers and high rates of fraudulent claims. On the other hand, UI funded through consumption taxes delivers lower welfare gains but remains feasible with high informality and
Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Kyle Herkenhoff, Abdoulaye Cisse, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, and Ahmadou A. Mbaye
Abstract: This paper studies the welfare effects from the provision of unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in a context where formal workers represent only a small proportion of the labor market and informal workers can submit fraudulent claims for UI benefits. We model these features and allow for varying degrees of enforcement and different funding sources. We then estimate the model’s key parameters by conducting a custom labor force survey in Senegal. Our findings show that the liquidity gains are large and the moral hazard response to the UI benefits among workers is relatively small: an extra dollar of UI benefits yields a consumption-equivalent gain of 60–90 cents, which exceeds comparable estimates from U.S. calibrations by a factor of three to sixteen. We then show that the welfare gains depend on the program design: UI funded through payroll taxes delivers the greatest welfare gains but becomes infeasible when there are few formal workers and high rates of fraudulent claims. On the other hand, UI funded through consumption taxes delivers lower welfare gains but remains feasible with high informality and
false claims.
Link | BibTex citation | Summary thread | Replication files | Audio Overview
Media coverage: VoxDev, Brookings Africa Growth Initiative
Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, vol. 1, num. 2, pp. 371-402, June 2023
Pawel Doligalski, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, and Nicolas Werquin
Abstract: Half of the jobs in the United States feature pay for performance. We derive incidence and optimum formulas for the rate of tax progressivity and the top income tax rate when such labor contracts arise from moral hazard frictions within firms. Our first main result is that the sensitivity of the worker’s compensation to performance is roughly invariant to tax progressivity. Second, the optimal tax schedule is strictly less progressive than in standard models that treat pretax earnings risk as exogenous. Quantitatively, the welfare cost of not accounting for performance pay when choosing tax progressivity is 0.3% of consumption.
Pawel Doligalski, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, and Nicolas Werquin
Abstract: Half of the jobs in the United States feature pay for performance. We derive incidence and optimum formulas for the rate of tax progressivity and the top income tax rate when such labor contracts arise from moral hazard frictions within firms. Our first main result is that the sensitivity of the worker’s compensation to performance is roughly invariant to tax progressivity. Second, the optimal tax schedule is strictly less progressive than in standard models that treat pretax earnings risk as exogenous. Quantitatively, the welfare cost of not accounting for performance pay when choosing tax progressivity is 0.3% of consumption.
Forthcoming in ACM FC 2024: Proceedings of the International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security
Abdoulaye Ndiaye
(In computer science, conferences are peer-reviewed and are the primary publication outlet)Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Selected Ongoing Research
Can Digitization Help Foster Synergies between Urban Service Delivery and Local Revenue Mobilization?
In the field. DigiFi grant. Location: Kanifing, The Gambia
Hamidou Jawara, Justine Knebelmann, Joseph Levine, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, and Victor Pouliquen
Hamidou Jawara, Justine Knebelmann, Joseph Levine, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, and Victor Pouliquen
Redistributing Transportation Costs to Resolve Inequalities
Data collection completed. Location: Ghana
Francis Annan, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, and National Petroleum Authority of Ghana
Productivity Growth in Government: Evidence from Tax Collection
Radhika Goyal, Andres Jensen, David Lagakos, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Radhika Goyal, Andres Jensen, David Lagakos, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Breaking Barriers: How Policies, Norms, and Preferences Shape Women's Labor Force Participation
Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Zhixiu Yu
Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Zhixiu Yu
Credit and Conflict in Nigeria
Olalekan Bello, Simone Lenzu, Toni Oki, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Olalekan Bello, Simone Lenzu, Toni Oki, and Abdoulaye Ndiaye
Policy Papers
Financing unemployment insurance in high-informality economies: A survey analysis of Senegal
Brookings Policy Brief, Global Economy & Development, 2023
Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Kyle Herkenhoff, Abdoulaye Cisse, and Alessandro Dell’Acqua
Brookings Policy Brief, Global Economy & Development, 2023
Ahmadou Aly Mbaye, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Kyle Herkenhoff, Abdoulaye Cisse, and Alessandro Dell’Acqua
Reforming Social Security to Save Social Security
Chicago Fed Letter, 2019 No 419
Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Lisa Camner McKay
Chicago Fed Letter, 2019 No 419
Abdoulaye Ndiaye and Lisa Camner McKay
Assessing the Inclusiveness of Growth in Africa: Evidence from Senegal, Cameroon, and Tanzania
World Institute for Development Economics Research Working Paper, 2014/120
Georges Vivien Houngbonon, Arthur Bauer, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Clara Champagne, Tite Yokossi, Nathalie Ferrière, Hédi Brahimi, and Jeanne Avril
World Institute for Development Economics Research Working Paper, 2014/120
Georges Vivien Houngbonon, Arthur Bauer, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Clara Champagne, Tite Yokossi, Nathalie Ferrière, Hédi Brahimi, and Jeanne Avril
Discussions
"Taxing Water Usage in Developing Countries: Theory and Evidence from Mexico" by Alejandro Estefan at National Tax Association Meetings 2023
"Expansion of Piped Water and Sewer Networks: The Effects of Regulation" by Bruna Morais Guidetti and Carolina Tojal Ramos dos Santos at National Tax Association Meetings 2023
"Larger transfers financed with more progressive taxes? On the optimal design of taxes and transfers" by Ferriere, Grubener, Navarro, and Vardishvili at National Tax Association Meetings 2021
"Optimal Fiscal Policy in a Model with Uninsurable Idiosyncratic Shocks" by Sebastian Dyrda and Marcelo Pedroni at National Tax Association Meetings 2021
"The Taxation of Couples" by Felix Bierbrauer, Pierre Boyer, Andreas Peichl, and Daniel Weishaar at National Tax Association Meetings 2020
"Politics and Income Taxes: Progress and Progressivity" by Marcus Berliant and Pierre Boyer at National Tax Association Meetings 2020
"Capitalist Human Capital" by Vincenzo Quadrini, Qi Sun and , Yicheng Wang at Tsinghua Workshop in Macroeconomics 2019
``Politically feasible reforms of non-linear tax systems" by Felix J. Bierbrauer and Pierre C. Boyer at Fourth Taxation Theory Conference 2018
``Income Taxation, Firing Costs and Insurance within Firm'' by Pawel Doligalski at National Tax Association Meetings 2017
``Inverse December Fever'' by Zareh Asatryan, Andreas Peichl, Thomas Schwab, and, Johannes Voget at National Tax Association Meetings 2017
Students
2024-2025: Abdoulaye Cissé, UC Berkeley ARE
Placement: On the 2024/2025 Job Market (letter writer)
2023-2024: Alessandro Dell'Acqua, NYU Stern Predoc
Placement: PhD in Economics, UC Berkeley
2022-2023: Yifan Shi, NYU Research Assistant
Placement: Predoc in Finance, Kellogg
2018-2019: Richard De Thorpe, Chicago Fed Predoc
Placement: PhD in Economics, Princeton