In sub-Saharan Africa, youth unemployment is expected to reach 50 percent by 2025. One reason for high unemployment among this group is that youth may live geographically far from where many jobs are located, making traveling to search for employment difficult and expensive. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to examine the impact of providing transportation subsidies on youth employment in Johannesburg, South Africa. Reducing job search costs through a transportation subsidy led job seekers to search more intensively, but their overall lack of success in finding a job led them to lower their search standards and led some job seekers to accept lower paying jobs in the township.

Following the 2007 financial crisis and the subsequent increase in youth unemployment, the Danish government intensified programs aimed at helping young job seekers find work. These programs, also known as active labor market programs (ALMPs), typically include job search counseling, training schemes, and employment subsidies. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of intensified ALMPs on youth employment and educational attainment. Increasing the frequency of meetings with caseworkers reduced employment for uneducated youth and had no impact for educated youth.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Uganda to test the impact of a mobile phone-based marketplace for agricultural commodities on local market prices, entry of traders, farmer revenue, and trader profits. Overall, the platform increased trade flows and decreased price variation across markets, especially among markets close to each other.

How important are the returns to education in determining schooling decisions? Do students have accurate information about these returns when they choose whether to continue schooling? In partnership with the Ministry of Education in the Dominican Republic, researchers are evaluating the impact of informational videos about the benefits of education on the decision of students to invest in additional schooling. Preliminary results suggest that exposure to the videos lead to a decrease in dropout for 8th grade students.

Researchers partnered with a large Indonesian Islamic bank to evaluate the impact of sending moral appeals in reminder text messages to late-paying credit card holders. Messages stating that non-repayment of debts by someone who is able to repay is an injustice increased the number of clients meeting minimum payments, proving more effective than substantial financial incentives for repayment.