Researchers tested the effects of providing low-income students in urban Chile with information about financial aid for higher education on their educational attainment and their likelihood of progressing to higher education. A video informing students about financing higher education increased enrollment in college preparatory schools and increased school attendance, particularly among medium- and high-performing students, but had no effect on grades.

Researchers partnered with the Chilean Ministry of Social Development to evaluate a micro-entrepreneur training and cash transfer program in Chile. They examined the effects of business training and cash transfers on individual employment and income. The program increased total employment, income, and positive business practices.

This evaluation measured the impact of different in-store information campaigns on the consumption of plastic shopping bags and the sale of reusable bags in grocery stores across Mexico. The information campaigns did not significantly reduce plastic bag consumption or increase the sale of the reusable bags. The low intensity of the campaigns may have been a factor in their ineffectiveness.

In Sierra Leone, researchers are testing whether price subsidies and agricultural extension training can reduce the costs of early adoption, and whether using the improved seed varieties will ultimately benefit poor farmers.

In Malawi, researchers are evaluating the effect of membership in a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) on an individual’s financial and social well-being.

In Colombia, researchers evaluated the impact of an online sexual health course implemented in public middle schools on adolescents’ sexual health knowledge, behavior, and attitudes towards sexual health. The study showed that the online course led to improved sexual health knowledge and attitudes, and increased the likelihood that students redeemed vouchers for condoms, an important precautionary behavior.

In Peru, researchers attempted to evaluate the impact of a technology-based financial literacy program on microcredit clients’ financial behavior. Low implementation levels led to a discontinuation of the evaluation.

Centering on one native Amazonian society (Tsimane’) and partnering with a Bolivian non- profit, researchers evaluated the impact of providing Tsimane’ households with lockboxes on their savings activity, consumption, and well-being. Providing lockboxes increased household financial assets but had no impact on total household expenditure; receiving lockboxes also increased alcohol consumption and blood pressure.

Researchers evaluated how informal insurance within Indian sub-castes affects the demand for formal rainfall insurance, and subsequent risk-taking among households employed in agriculture. Informal insurance both increased and decreased the demand for formal rainfall insurance, depending on the extent to which informal and formal insurance covered individual losses.