In rural India, researchers are testing whether helping women access public employment and receive wages through direct deposit into individual bank accounts can increase their chances of being employed, their control over earnings, and ultimately their family planning decisions.

Around the world, studies show that children’s health and cognitive development tend to be higher when parents have more education. However, it is unclear whether education itself causes improved child health, or if other factors account for this relationship. In Ghana, researchers are building on an ongoing study to evaluate the causal impact of parental education on child health and cognitive development, and to identify the specific channels through which increased parental education might improve child health.

Researchers estimated the impact of a microcredit program, which was randomly rolled out in rural areas of Morocco. Thirteen percent of the households in treatment villages took a loan, and none in comparison villages did. Among households identified as more likely to borrow, microcredit access led to a significant rise in investment in assets used for self-employment activities, and an increase in profit, but also to a reduction in income from casual labor. Overall, there was no gain in income or consumption.

In an ongoing study, researchers are evaluating whether providing subsidized test preparation to high-achieving, low-income students can diminish the barriers to entry to institutions of higher education in Chile.

By the time they reach primary school, disadvantaged children often lag behind their more advantaged peers in the skills and concepts of formal math. To address this issue, researchers examined the impact of math games, played in preschools and exercising early emerging, universal and intuitive numerical and spatial abilities, on children’s learning of school math in Delhi, India. They found that the games led to long-term increases in children’s intuitive math abilities. The games also bolstered children’s mastery of the spatial and numerical language used in the preschools, but they did not enhance children’s subsequent learning of primary school mathematics.

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.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of life skills training and mentoring on dropout rates and non-cognitive skills among girls in India. Their evidence suggests that the intervention is successful in developing stronger life skills including increased agency, more equitable gender norms, and stronger socio-emotional support.

In Kenya, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a contract teacher program on student learning outcomes, comparing implementation between an NGO and the government. The NGO-led program improved student test scores, while the government-led version had no impact.

The City of Chelsea implemented a cash transfer program called Chelsea Eats, which provided eligible households with up to US$400 per month for nine months. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation on the impact of the unconditional cash transfer on health care utilization and a variety of health outcomes. Those who received the cash transfer had fewer emergency department visits, including those related to behavioral health or substance use, fewer admissions to the hospital from the emergency department, and more outpatient visits to subspecialists than those who did not receive the cash transfer.

In India, researchers evaluated the impact of the first emissions trading scheme for particulate matter on air quality, industry compliance costs, and industry profits. Compliance with the market was high, and participating firms substantially reduced their particulate matter emissions without large increases in abatement costs, suggesting that the emissions trading scheme was a cost-effective pollution reduction strategy

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.