Evaluations
Search our database of 963 randomized evaluations conducted by our affiliates in 83 countries. To browse summaries of key policy recommendations from a subset of these evaluations, visit the Policy Publications tab.
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Finance
Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through a Tablet App for the Base of the Pyramid in Paraguay
Jeanne Lafortune , Jose Tessada, Liliana Olarte, Viviane AzevedoDespite the benefits of accumulating savings, low-income individuals rarely use formal savings products. Researchers are partnering with a financial institution in Paraguay to evaluate the impact of a range of tablet-based applications, which remind people to save and help them make savings goals, on savings behavior of low-income individuals.
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Health
The Impact of Cash Transfers on Delivery Planning and Maternal Care Quality in Kenya
Margaret McConnell, Jessica Cohen , Claire Rothschild, Ginger Golub, George Omondi, Katherine Lofgren, Margaret KrukResearchers evaluated whether cash transfers and decision-making nudges could help low-income pregnant women in Nairobi, Kenya deliver where they wanted and in a high-quality facility. They found that cash transfers, conditioned on precommitment to a delivery facility, led to more effective birth planning and increased the likelihood that women delivered at higher-quality facilities.
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Political Economy & Governance, Crime, Violence, & Conflict
Deterring Drunk Driving in India
Abhijit Banerjee, Daniel Keniston, Esther Duflo , Nina SinghTo evaluate which strategies are most effective at preventing drunk driving and reducing traffic accidents, researchers evaluated an anti-drunk driving program in India. Overall, the anti-drunk driving program was effective in reducing traffic deaths and accidents, with these reductions driven entirely by police stations that implemented surprise checkpoints. Promising transfers to reserve police for good behavior more than doubled the number of drunk drivers brought to court.
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Health
The Impact of Bundled Payments on Medicare Spending, Utilization, and Quality in the United States
Amy Finkelstein , Jonathan Skinner, Neale Mahoney, Yunan JiResearchers use a randomized evaluation to examine the impact of bundled payments on Medicare spending, utilization, and quality of care for knee and hip replacements, two common and expensive medical procedures.
Education
Textbooks and Test Scores in Kenya
Michael Kremer, Paul Glewwe
, Sylvie Moulin
The provision of textbooks in schools has no impact on average test scores or student attendance: test scores increased for already high-achieving students, but many in lower grades were unable to read them.
Education, Health
School Meals, Educational Achievement and School Finance in Kenya
Michael Kremer
, Christel Vermeersch
Researchers examined the effects of subsidized school meals on school participation, educational achievement, and school finance in Western Kenya. The results suggest that the meals program led to improved school participation, as well as higher curriculum test scores, but only in schools where the teacher was relatively experienced prior to the program. The school meals also displaced teaching...
Health
The Illusion of Sustainability: Comparing Free Provision of Deworming Drugs and Other "Sustainable" Approaches in Kenya
This study in Kenya found that cost-sharing and health education were not effective alternatives to a total subsidy of deworming drugs.
Finance
Saving Incentives for Low and Middle Income Families: Evidence From a Field Experiment with HR Block
Esther Duflo, Jeffrey Liebman
, William Gale, Peter Orszag, Emmanuel Saez
Researchers tested the influence of the (randomly chosen) rate at which clients were told contributions to their Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) would be matched on the amount contributed to their retirement savings accounts. They found higher matching rates significantly increased IRA participation and contributions.
Education, Political Economy & Governance
Peer Effects, Pupil-Teacher Ratios, and Teacher Incentives in Kenya
Researchers evaluated three interventions that addressed the large class sizes and heterogeneity in student preparation in the Kenyan school system. They found that hiring additional local contract teachers helped reduce classroom overcrowding and improved student learning outcomes.