The ability and integrity of civil servants can have important consequences for the lives of the poor. Researchers analyzed the impact of financial incentives and characteristics of the work environment on attracting qualified applicants to Mexico’s public sector. Offering higher wages attracted individuals with higher previous earnings, higher IQs, and more desirable personality traits. These applicants were also at least as publicly-motivated as applicants that did not receive the higher wage offering.

Researchers evaluated and compared the impact of two different job search assistance policies on employment outcomes for young job seekers in Addis Ababa. Helping youth signal their skills to employers improved their earnings and job duration four years later, especially for youth who would usually fare the worst in the labor market. Reducing the cost of job search through a transportation subsidy improved the likelihood of having a formal job in the short run, but had no impact after four years.

Researchers evaluated the impact of different approaches designed to increase latrine coverage on actual latrine coverage, investment in hygienic latrines, and the prevalence of open defecation.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of Check & Connect (C&C), a school-based mentoring program, to evaluate its impact on school attendance and academic outcomes. For students who began the program in grades 5-7, the program decreased student absences and caused participating students to fail fewer courses.

Numerous summer jobs programs in the United States seek to support the employment of young people facing barriers to employment and opportunity. Researchers studied the impact of the New York City Summer Youth Employment Program (which used a lottery to determine participation) on youth earnings, employment, college enrollment, incarceration, and mortality. Although the program increased earnings and employment during the year of participation, it caused a modest decrease in earnings in subsequent years and had no effect on college enrollment. The program also decreased the incarceration and mortality rates of program participants.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of providing information on national rank and scholarships can reduce dropout among high-performing students.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a cash transfer program in Morocco to estimate the impact on attendance and enrollment of a “labeled cash transfer” (LCT): a small cash transfer made to parents of school-aged children in poor rural communities, not conditional on school attendance but explicitly labeled as an education support program.

In Western Kenya, researchers evaluated the impact of two preventive approaches—community-based testing and free condom provision—on behavioral and biological outcomes. Neither community-based testing, free condoms, nor these interventions offered together reduced the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections or risky sexual behaviors among youth.

In Uganda, researchers evaluated the effect of standardized business skills training on business performance as compared to more personalized mentoring services.

What are the impacts of vocational education on labor markets, migration patterns, and health and fertility outcomes in Kenya?

Researchers evaluated the long-run effects of temporary contact between individuals from different regions during military service on interregional attitudes and national identity sentiments among former Spanish male conscripts. Overall, conscription outside of one’s region of origin led to positive and long-lasting effects on interregional sentiments, and increased the sense of national identity among conscripts from regions with strong secessionists movements.

Researchers assessed the impact of a recreational tutoring program on students’ academic achievements and interest for school work provided by the NGO Apfee. Researchers found that children identified as falling behind by their teachers in schools where the tutoring program was offered did not improve their reading or math skills, although they developed a taste for reading and academic subjects. These results hold two years after the implementation of the program.