A series of interactive classroom discussions about gender equality over two and a half years increased students’ support for gender equality and led students to enact more gender-equitable behavior in the state of Haryana, India.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in western Kenya to test how farmer participation in agronomic trials impacted their experimentation on their own farms with different input combinations and impacted their use of high-quality inputs, yields, adoption of new crops, and profitability. Farmers, particularly those with higher skills, who participated in the trials were quick to experiment and learn about different combinations of inputs and practices. However, their agricultural profits decreased across five agricultural seasons, possibly due to experimentation with new combinations of inputs and practices, while lower skilled farmers benefitted from higher skilled farmers' experimentation.

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 household welfare.

In the United States, researchers evaluated the impact of a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program designed to teach high-risk male students in secondary schools to regulate harmful, automatic behaviors. Results demonstrated that the program led to a significant drop in arrests per student, especially for violent crimes, and increased school engagement and high school graduation rates.

In partnership with Jacaranda Health, researchers evaluated a family planning program that provided pregnant women with varying combinations of vouchers for free modern contraception and reminders of the importance of family planning. While none of the combinations increased self-reported use of modern contraception in the short term, the combination of the voucher and reminder did increase its use in the medium term.

Despite expanding access to sanitary options such as community toilets, many individuals, especially in urban slums, continue to practice open defecation. One potential explanation is that open defecation has become an ingrained habit. Applying lessons from psychology and neuroscience, researchers are evaluating whether a combination of economic incentives and a marketing campaign can foster a new habit—using hygienic latrines instead defecating in the open—among slum dwellers in Kenya.