Researchers evaluated whether randomly providing financial support for secondary education could improve economic decision-making in addition to educational outcomes for secondary school students in Malawi. Results show that the intervention improved educational outcomes and economic decision-making, especially among 9th grade students.

In Mexico, researchers evaluated the impact of PROGRESA, a national conditional cash transfer program, on marriages and divorces. Researchers found that, in the short-term, the program did not affect the number of marriages but increased the number of divorces and separations.

In partnership with the Government of Jharkhand, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to study the impact of unconditional, framed cash transfers to pregnant women and lactating mothers on child health.

Using data from a previous randomized evaluation in rural India that tested the effect of asset transfers to low-income households on overall consumption, researchers analyzed whether an increase in household wealth led to changes in energy use. While households consumed significantly more energy after the asset transfer, they did not reduce their use of dirty fuels.

Researchers evaluated whether Boston’s SYEP had an effect on the criminal justice outcomes of participants and sought to gauge the potential mechanisms driving these effects. The program reduced participants’ violent and property crime-related arraignments.

The researchers aim to understand the role that digital cash transfers can play as a policy tool both to increase household resilience during the pandemic and to stem the spread of the disease by increasing adherence to social distancing in Ghana.

In India, researchers evaluated the impact of a public sector management program involving comprehensive assessments of schools, detailed school ratings, and customized school improvement plans, on school functioning and student learning. Researchers found that the MPSQA program was successful in conducting high-quality external school assessments.

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing a new technology--smart meters--on consumer payments and service quality. Research is ongoing; results are forthcoming.

Researchers partnered with the tax authority in Belgium to understand what types of messages drive people to comply with their taxes. Results show that simplified messages, as well as messages that highlighted the consequences of non-compliance, induced people to file and pay their taxes sooner. On the other hand, messages aimed at promoting social norms around filing and paying taxes on time, and the social value of public expenditure, had no effects and sometimes even reduced compliance.

Leveraging the increasingly widespread use of social media, researchers conducted a large-scale randomized evaluation to test the direct and indirect impact on electoral accountability of a nonpartisan information campaign delivered via Facebook ads during the 2018 Mexican municipal elections. Incumbent parties with negligible corruption levels saw their vote share increase by 6-7 percentage points in localities targeted by the Facebook ads.

In the United States, researchers evaluated the impact of the mandatory-participation bundled payment model for hospitals and explored which hospitals were incentivized to opt in to bundled payments after the model was later made voluntary. The mandatory-participation bundled payment program produced modest reductions in Medicare claims, but the voluntary program produced smaller declines in Medicare claims than if the mandatory program had continued.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a financial literacy interactive voice response campaign on loan outcomes. The intervention boosted knowledge and slightly improved loan repayment, but it also raised loan demand, increasing the overall risk of default.

Researchers in Ghana evaluated the impact of community-led assessments on health insurance enrollment as well as healthcare and health insurance quality. The community engagement intervention improved the medical quality of healthcare, reduced community members’ chances of getting sick, and increased health insurance enrollment among previously uninsured people.

Researchers evaluated the impact of targeted mailings encouraging people with criminal records to register to vote on voting behavior in North Carolina. Mailers increased both voter registration and general election turnout among people with past criminal convictions.

Researchers, in partnership with Kimanya Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education in Uganda, evaluated the impact of a program that trained teachers to learn like scientists: posing questions, framing hypotheses, and using real-world experience wherever possible. Researchers found positive impacts on classroom dynamics, teacher pedagogy, student learning, and creativity, with impacts on student learning sustained for four years.