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 16
Community members attend a meeting promoting the use of women's help desks.

Improving policing in the midst of patriarchy

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
October 25, 2022
In India, creating designated women’s help desks (WHDs) in police stations increased the registration of crimes against women, particularly when staffed by female officers. Key results: The WHD program led to more registrations of cases of violence against women. Stations with WHDs registered 1.5...
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.
Raskin

Empowering Citizens with Information: Improving Access to Social Assistance in Indonesia

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
August 1, 2019
In Indonesia, sending households official identification cards with information about the benefits they were eligible to receive from a national subsidized rice program led to a 26 percent increase in the benefits that eligible households received and a large reduction in leakage.
Biometric authentication using thumbprint

Smartcards for Smarter Payments

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
September 6, 2017
In India, a biometrically authenticated payment system reduced corruption and substantially improved the delivery of government social assistance programs despite partial implementation.
Shopkeeper writes a receipt

The Role of the VAT for Tax Enforcement

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
March 20, 2017
The Value Added Tax (VAT) system, which generates a paper trail on transactions between firms, facilitated tax enforcement by spreading the impact of enforcement measures up the production chain in a study with over 400,000 firms in Chile.

Paying for Performance

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
November 1, 2015
Performance pay for tax officials in Punjab, Pakistan significantly increased tax revenues without harming taxpayer satisfaction.

The Power of Information in Community Monitoring

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
July 1, 2015
A community-based monitoring program in Uganda led to large and sustained increases in health care utilization and improvements in child health. The key to success was providing communities with information on the performance of local health care providers.

Community Grants for the Next Generation

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
May 19, 2014
Community block grants improved health and education in Indonesian villages, and adding performance incentives sped up improvements in health.

Truth-Telling in Third-Party Audits

Last Updated:
Last Updated:
October 9, 2013
Changing the market for environmental audits to incentivize accurate reporting in Gujarat, India made auditors more likely to report the truth about industrial plants’ pollution levels. In response, industrial plants polluted less.