Researchers are testing whether delivering cash through governmental institutions or through an existing MFI is more cost-effective and easier to scale-up.

Researchers studied the impact of providing information about fuel costs on consumers’ car purchases. Providing information about fuel costs had no effect on the fuel efficiency of the vehicles consumers chose to buy.

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.

Researchers shared information on students’ relative academic standing among university students in Spain to evaluate the impact of this information on student performance and satisfaction. Providing students with information on their relative standing led to a short-term decrease in academic performance and an increase in satisfaction.

If female managers are more likely to hire women, gender-balanced hiring committees may help promote parity in the long run. Using data from public examinations to enter the Spanish judiciary, researchers found that female candidates were less likely to succeed in the public examinations when evaluated by mixed-gender committees than by all-male ones, while male candidates fared better with mixed committees.

Researchers examined the impact of peer pressure on handwashing behavior by varying whether men using a restroom in Buenos Aires, Argentina were observed by another restroom user. They found that being observed increased urinal flushing by 26.7 percent and handwashing by 19 percent, suggesting that peer pressure might be an effective way to increase socially desirable behaviors.

Researchers partnered with the Government of Sierra Leone to evaluate the impact of community monitoring and nonfinancial awards programs on health care utilization and health outcomes. Both programs improved clinic utilization, patient satisfaction, and symptom reporting during the 2014 Ebola crisis. Further, community monitoring improved child health and reduced mortality among Ebola patients.

If disadvantaged students lack information about their educational opportunities after high-school and the academic preparation they need to succeed in top universities, they may be less likely to apply to and attend these universities. Researchers tested the impact of a program that connected underprivileged high schools with higher education institutions to provide academic tutoring and support.

Researchers evaluated the impact of its science and technology teacher training program on the educational interests and academic achievement of affected students. Student outcomes improved in the short-run during the year the teacher received the training and worsened in the year after teachers received the training.

In Niger, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing training and conditional or unconditional cash transfers on farmers’ adoption and use of an environmental technology, their resulting land use, agricultural production and profitability, and labor allocation. Providing farmers with training led to a substantially higher probability of adopting the technology, while the conditional or unconditional cash transfers had no additional effect on farmers’ decision to adopt.