Evaluations

Policy Publications

Search our database of policy briefcases, bulletins, and evidence reviews. Briefcases summarize the results and policy recommendations from one randomized evaluation, while bulletins synthesize the broader policy lessons emerging from multiple evaluations on the same topic. Evidence reviews summarize an existing academic literature review, like a handbook chapter or white paper, for a policy audience.

Displaying 1-9 of 22
Photo of the HCDI Evidence Wrap-Up publication

HCDI Evidence Wrap-up

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
October 28, 2024
This publication describes some of the randomized evaluations supported by J-PAL North America’s US Health Care Delivery Initiative (HCDI) to date, as well as evaluations conducted by J-PAL affiliated researchers.
Female students wearing headscarves are seated in an English classroom at Jambiani Secondary School in Jambiani, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Boosting Adolescent Girls' Agency Through Life Skills Training

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
March 12, 2024
Historically, women’s ability to exercise choice-–such as when to have children or whether to engage in income generating activities—has been constrained and remains severely limited, especially in low and middle-income countries. Barriers to women’s agency limit their capacity to advocate for...
A group of girls are pictured in school uniforms.

Designing and Implementing Evidence Based Life Skills Training Programmes and Girls Clubs

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
March 12, 2024
There is growing evidence that life skills programmes may serve as a particularly effective avenue for addressing internal constraints women face in exercising agency, by strengthening women’s “power within”—self-efficacy, aspirations or attitudes about gender.
Doctor speaking to parent and child

The Spillover Effects of Health Care Interventions in the United States: Evidence Wrap-Up

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
October 10, 2023
Health care policies and interventions are often designed with a specific population in mind. However, they can have effects that go beyond the specific target population. These effects are referred to as “spillover effects.” This publication showcases studies conducted by J-PAL affiliated...
Sign pointing towards emergency room

Understanding Medicaid Expansion: The Effects of Insuring Low-Income Adults

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
January 29, 2014
The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment found that covering the uninsured with Medicaid increased the use of health care, including primary care, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits; diminished financial strain; and reduced depression. There was no statistically significant impact on physical...
Two women sit face to face. The woman on the left holds a pedometer and is speaking to the woman on the right.

Stepping Up to Combat Urban Diabetes

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
July 7, 2021
Providing financial incentives to walk at least 10,000 steps per day led to increased exercise and moderate physical and mental health improvements among diabetics and prediabetics in India, with "threshold" contracts being especially effective for diabetics who are more impatient.
Health care workers in Sierra Leone put on personal protective equipment during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak.

Health Care Communities Can Count On

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
March 9, 2021
  • Darin Christensen
  • Oeindrila Dube
  • Johannes Haushofer
  • Bilal Siddiqi
  • Maarten Voors
Community monitoring and nonfinancial award programs for health clinics in Sierra Leone improved clinic utilization, patient satisfaction, and reporting during the 2014 Ebola crisis. Community monitoring improved child health and reduced mortality among Ebola patients.
A young child receiving immunization drops

Customizing Performance Pay to Overcome Health Worker Procrastination in Pakistan

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
January 6, 2021
  • James Andreoni
  • Michael Callen
  • Karrar Hussain
  • Muhammad Yasir Khan
  • Charles Sprenger
Tailoring performance-based incentives according to health providers’ innate characteristics reduced procrastination and increased polio vaccination in Pakistan.
women holding hand out to receive medication

On Track: Health Care, Patient Data, and Provider Performance

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
June 8, 2020
Biometric tracking increased the likelihood that patients adhered to recommended tuberculosis treatment, improved health worker attendance, and reduced misreporting of patient data by health workers.