Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether a gender-neutral job training could shift norms in a religiously conservative region of Nigeria. Youth who were offered job training earned more, broadened their friend groups, and adopted more progressive views on women’s education, labor force participation, and household decision-making. Caregivers of participants also improved their gender beliefs.

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impacts of group-based therapy with and without a one-time lump sum cash transfers on the mental health and employment outcomes of adolescent girls in Uganda.

In Pakistan, researchers partnered with a microfinance institution to conduct a randomized evaluation to test how larger asset-based loans for purchasing business equipment, combined with flexible repayment options, affected business performance and household well-being. Business owners who received these loans increased their profits, had larger businesses, and spent more on food and education, particularly for girls.

Researchers provided three years of recruiting services to help young women in randomly selected rural Indian villages get jobs in the business process outsourcing industry. Women who had access to these recruiting services were significantly more likely to be employed outside the home at the end of the three-year period and significantly less likely to have gotten married or had children.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of a school-based program that used a non-monetary penalty and regular monitoring to prevent adolescent tobacco use. The program reduced the probability that adolescents smoked, with effects sustained three months after the program ended. Incorporating a school competition component to the program had no further impact on smoking abstinence.

In Egypt, a sizable portion of the prison population is incarcerated solely for failing to repay private debts, highlighting serious concerns about the social, economic, and legal consequences of debtor imprisonment. Researchers are conducting two randomized evaluations, the first tests the impact of paying off the debts of incarcerated individuals on their post-release outcomes. The second study examines how the threat of imprisonment affects moral hazards and adverse selection in credit markets.

Partnering with one of the biggest providers of rental agricultural equipment in India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing agricultural equipment vouchers and cash transfers on farmers’ use of machines, their decision to reallocate household labor or hire outside laborers, and their income. Farmers were more likely to rent agricultural equipment and hire workers for agricultural activities, while family members worked less in agriculture.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of an in-school remedial education program on student learning in Odisha, India. Both the standard and a version that allowed teacher flexibility improved student test scores without reducing grade- level mastery or affecting the likelihood of passing exams.

To better understand gender inequalities in academic achievement, choice of occupation, and labor market outcomes, researchers studied the effect of teachers’ beliefs about gender roles on student achievement in Istanbul, Turkey. Girls who were taught by teachers with traditional gender views had lower math and verbal test scores, which worsened with longer exposure to their teachers; boys did not experience these effects.

Researchers evaluated the impact of a series of class discussions in middle school that emphasized the importance of these skills on student behavior and test scores. The program improved participating students’ academic achievement, particularly among girls, well-behaved students, and non-recipients of financial aid.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of offering financial rewards to farmers to stop burning rice stalk stubble on their eventual crop residue burning decisions in Punjab, India. They found that pre-harvest payments to farmers helped them to take costly actions to reduce burning by 10 percentage points, compared to when farmers only received payments after completing harvest and field-clearing.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the effect of a basic CCT program, as well as two complementary interventions, on households’ vulnerability to irregular weather patterns. Providing households with vocational training or capital grants to generate non-agricultural income helps improve consumption and resilience to weather shocks.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation during the summer months of 2023 to test the impact of using contracts or contests to encourage energy savings and assess their cost-effectiveness. Researchers found that contests and contracts achieved similar levels of energy savings. However, contests were nearly twice as cost-effective compared to contracts.

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.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether exposing people to a documentary featuring potential role models impacted parents’ educational aspirations for their children or their actual investments in education, and if these impacts varied by gender. Exposing families to the documentary increased parental aspirations for educational attainment as well as investments in education, but it did not close the gender gap for either.