In partnership with the Kasai Central Provincial Tax Ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the researcher conducted a randomized evaluation to identify the direct and indirect effects of varying levels of enforcement on firms’ tax compliance and their likelihood to pay bribes.

To diminish the effect of bribes on voter behavior, researchers designed and evaluated a non-partisan anti-vote-buying radio campaign during the 2014 Indian general election. Researchers assessed whether voters in areas that were randomly assigned to receive the radio campaign became less likely to vote for the reputed vote-buying parties. Researchers found that the radio campaign decreased the vote share of vote-buying parties by 3.5 to 7.1 percentage points.

Researchers tested in the case of Montevideo, Uruguay the impact of winning a tax holiday on subsequent tax compliance. Winners of the tax holiday lottery were 3 percentage points less likely to pay taxes in subsequent payment cycles, likely because the holiday disrupted the habit of tax paying, and this effect lasted for up to two years after the holiday.

Researchers measured the impact of a government apprenticeship program for youth in Ghana on wages, employment, skills, fertility, migration, and other outcomes. The results suggest that apprenticeship programs can provide youth with skills and transition them into self-employment.

In Northern Nigeria, researchers are testing the effect of providing mothers with unconditional cash transfers, coupled with varying levels of information and guidance on nutrition, to encourage parents to use funds for their children’s nutrition and food security.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Nigeria to determine whether a campaign against electoral violence could spread through social networks to affect the perceptions and behaviors not only of the individuals targeted by the campaign but also others to whom they have social ties. The clearest effects of the campaign were on decreasing the perceptions of violence among those with social ties to the targeted individuals, most often through family links.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 24 percent of the global burden of disease. While private clinics are the first source of care for many Africans, the quality of care offered in private facilities is inconsistent and often weak, and the private healthcare sector faces a wide host of challenges. In this study, researchers will evaluate the impact of a multi-pronged private healthcare initiative on healthcare utilization, quality of care, clinic financial outcomes, and child health outcomes in Kenya.

Researchers evaluated two programs to explore factors that may influence the amount of remittances people send: a temporary discount on the transaction fee and the provision of information about the returns to education in their home country. While the information about education did not change remittance amounts, the fee discount led to a substantial increase in the number of remittance transactions and the total amount remitted.

Despite recent economic growth in Bangladesh, food insecurity remains widespread. Researchers evaluated the impact of an agricultural training program for farmer groups on technology adoption in rural Bangladesh, and investigated what drives adoption and who is affected by the training, both directly and indirectly.

Vaccination programs are considered to be cost-effective strategies to reduce child mortality and morbidity, but in many low-income countries, coverage for routine vaccines remains low. This is due to a range of possible factors including low parent knowledge about the benefits of vaccination, inadequate vaccine supply, and poor supply chain management. In Mozambique, researchers are examining the effectiveness of a mobile application-based solution that uses mobile technology to overcome these challenges and improve vaccination coverage.

Researchers evaluated the effect of a gender-transformative skills-building program on IPV incidence, HIV risk behaviors, and other health outcomes in rural Ethiopia. Overall, the program led to reductions in IPV when delivered to groups of men, but not when delivered to couples or to women only. Further, across all groups, the program increased support for gender equitable norms, increased equity in intrahousehold decision-making, and reduced HIV risk behaviors.

Researchers evaluated whether participating in the law-making process influenced firms’ compliance with regulations in Vietnam. Firms that participated in the drafting of new regulation had more positive views of the government’s regulatory authority, were more likely to allow auditors to examine facilities, and ultimately improved compliance with factory floor regulations.

Researchers evaluated the effects of different medication packaging and messaging on individuals’ adherence to malaria treatment in Uganda. They found that colorful, “high quality” packaging had no effect, while adding low-cost stickers with simple informative messaging to existing packaging improved adherence.