Can using technological innovations for monitoring improve the administrative implementation of social protection programs? In partnership with the Ministry of Rural Development in two states in India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a new internet- and mobile-based management and monitoring platform, PayDash, to improve the administration of MGNREGS, a large workfare program in India. Platform access significantly reduced wage payment delays in areas with worse baseline performance and its use was higher when senior officials were also provided access.

In Liberia and Malawi, researchers partnered with Innovations for Poverty Action, GiveDirectly, and USAID to evaluate the impact of an unconditional cash transfer and market access program on food security, spending, income, resilience to health shocks, intimate partner violence, and psychological well-being. In both countries, households that received cash transfers experienced lasting increases in food security, psychological well-being, and resilience to health shocks.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation among households in rural Burkina Faso to examine whether countries in sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing a slower shift in fertility levels due to lack of access to contraception or households wanting large families. Providing married women with access to free contraception did not reduce birth rates, even when it was paired with information to correct misconceptions about child mortality or village meetings or an edutainment film aimed at ensuring exposure to a diversity of views about family size and modern contraception.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to study if Democratic climate advocates recruit others for climate advocacy and whether they reach out across party lines to increase bi-partisan support. While Democrats were motivated to mobilize others to email Congress on climate action, they were more likely to do so when they believed their efforts would influence like-minded, Democratic-leaning individuals.