Researchers partnered with the Government of Indonesia to evaluate the impact of community block grants and the additional effect of performance incentives. They found that community block grants improved health and education in Indonesian villages, and adding performance incentives sped up improvements in health.

While researchers found a meaningful reduction in smoke inhalation in the first year after households received an improved stove, there was no effect over longer time horizons. The difference between the laboratory and field results is due to households’ revealed low valuation of the stoves. Households failed to use the stoves regularly or appropriately, did not make the necessary investments to maintain them properly, and use ultimately declined over time.

Researchers partnered with SKS Microfinance to measure the impact of bundling a health insurance product with microloan renewals on health insurance take-up, and health care use and spending. They found that the requirement to purchase health insurance substantially reduced microcredit clients’ loan renewal rates, meaning that people were willing to give up credit to avoid buying insurance.

Researchers examined the impact of an initiative to promote savings, through financial incentives, reminders, and messaging, on the savings behavior of the urban poor in Peru. Preliminary results found that the initiative increased the probability that clients reached their savings goals; negatively framed messages appear to be more effective than positive messages in getting people to save.

Researchers are examining the impact of offering health insurance through a microfinance institution on clients’ health behaviors and health outcomes, as well as on the institution’s profit, client retention, and default rates.

Researchers tested the assumption of price inelastic demand using a randomized evaluation in South Africa. The results suggest that the demand curves were downward sloping, and steeper for price increases relative to the lender’s standard rates. Researchers also found that loan size was far more responsive to changes in loan maturity than to changes in interest rates.

Researchers evaluated the impact of a door-to-door deposit-collecting service, which regularly collected funds from clients’ homes to be deposited at a local bank, on clients’ savings. Results demonstrated that clients who lived farther from a bank were more likely to take up the service, and clients who took up the service significantly increased their savings.