Search our database of 1,800+ randomized evaluations conducted by our affiliates in 96 countries. To browse summaries of key policy recommendations from a subset of these evaluations, visit the Policy Publications tab.

Displaying 1-8 of 114

Evaluating Transfer Size in a Conditional Cash Transfer Program for Seasonal Migrants in Indonesia

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a cash transfer program conditional on seasonal migration and an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program on rural households’ decisions to migrate and migration season earnings in West-Timor, Indonesia. Relative to the UCT, the...

Providing Agricultural Inputs in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Sylvie Lambert
Margaux Vinez
In partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the World Bank, researchers are investigating how subsidizing the cost of and access to improved seeds affects smallholder farmers’ take-up of improved seeds, their short-term agricultural productivity, and...

Laser-Branding Technologies to Increase the Quality of Watermelons in Chinese Markets

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different types of labels to signal product quality on sellers’ ability to develop a reputation for consistently selling high-quality watermelons in China. The more expensive laser-cut label influenced sellers to provide higher...

Rural Finance and Commitment Mechanisms in Agricultural Input Decisions in Mali

In Mali, researchers are working with Innovations for Poverty Action, Soro Yiriwaso (a microfinance institution), and UNRIA (the national network of agriculture input dealers), to evaluate the relative importance of these two factors in farmers’ fertilizer-purchasing decisions.

Opportunities to Improve the Expansion and Impact of Agricultural Lending in Mali

Researchers evaluated the impact of additional investments in agriculture on income for subsistence farmers. In rural Mali, giving some farmers unrestricted cash grants led to significantly higher productivity and profits, suggesting farmers would invest more in their farms if they had more capital.

Migration Subsidies and Rural Labor Markets in Bangladesh

Rural to urban migration is an integral component of economic development, but there is limited evidence on the decision to migrate and little evidence on how emigration affects rural labor markets. To better understand these, researchers varied the proportion of travel grants offered to landless...

Are Agricultural Traders Colluding? Testing the Degree of Competition Among Maize Traders in Kenya

Michael Dinerstein
Researchers conducted three randomized evaluations to measure the degree of competition among wholesale maize traders, understand the implications for social welfare, and test whether new traders could make a market more competitive. Researchers found that traders did not pass through much of a...

Video-Mediated Agricultural Extension to Increase Technology Adoption Among Farmers in Ethiopia

Gashaw T Abate
Simrin Makhija
David J. Spielman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a video-mediated extension approach on the uptake of technologies recommended by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The video-mediated instruction increased uptake through improved access to extension and farmer knowledge but...