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 studied hiring discrimination among major employers in the United States by sending fictional resumes, with varying demographic information, to determine whether certain characteristics would lead to different follow-up contact rates. Employers were less likely to contact resumes with distinctively Black names than resumes with distinctively white names.

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.