Evaluations

Present-biased preferences, or the tendency to value immediate rewards over greater benefits in the future, may contribute to persistent poverty, preventing low-income households from accumulating savings, making investments, and rationing their resources over time. However, there is little rigorous...

While many low-income Americans have costly debt, they typically spend only a small proportion of their tax rebates to repay those debts. In partnership with Baltimore CASH, researchers are introducing postcards that encourage low-income tax filers to use their tax rebates to pay off debt, and...

Many financial products such as 401k plans have been designed to help US consumers overcome limited self-control and limited attention in order to reach their savings goals. However, reaching low-income consumers with such behaviorally-designed financial products can be difficult. In the Bronx, NY...

In the United States, many people who are eligible for social and economic benefits do not claim those benefits. Researchers partnered with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to test the effectiveness of different messages to taxpayers designed to encourage them to claim certain tax benefits.

Credit-building loan products (CBLs) have begun to proliferate in the U.S. marketplace, but there is little evidence on the effects of these products on consumers and lenders. IPA and RAND worked with researchers to evaluate the impacts of a CBL offered at a credit union in Missouri, both alone and...

In France, researchers examined the effect of job-related mentoring and support for university students from low socio-economic backgrounds on their chances of finding employment after graduating. The program did not result in improved job search efforts, greater employment prospects, or better jobs...

Researchers examined the impact of a mentoring program on high school students' academic achievement, job market knowledge, and career-related goals. The program changed students' academic ambitions, but had no impact on their professional plans, knowledge about the professional world, or motivation...

Through a randomized evaluation, researchers examined the effects of partisan mail campaigns on voter turnout in state and municipal elections in Connecticut and New Jersey. Results indicate that partisan direct mail campaigns do little to stimulate voter turnout.