COVID-19 school closures have led to widespread student learning loss in the United States. Researchers are evaluating the impact of individualized, virtual summer instruction on redressing these losses. This project is ongoing. Results forthcoming.

In collaboration with Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS), researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing women with childcare subsidies and employment services on their employment and empowerment outcomes, as well as their children’s cognitive and socioemotional skills.

In Uganda, researchers are evaluating the impact of the “Solar Suitcase” designed specifically for maternity care facilities on the reliability of light, quality of care, and health worker satisfaction.

Researchers studied a government-funded conditional cash transfer program to evaluate the impact of family networks on consumption and investment decisions for low-income households in Mexico. Food expenditure increased among both eligible connected households and ineligible households connected to families who were offered the program.

In Namibia, researchers measured the impact of a community-based natural resource management program on livestock assets, income, social cohesion, and land quality. Community-based rangeland management improved rangeland grazing management, community governance of the rangelands, and farmer cooperation in managing the rangelands. However, the intervention had negative impacts on rangeland health.

Researchers examined whether small incentives and short-term goals could encourage Colombian loan officers to stop procrastinating. Under the new incentive structure, loan officers spread their work more evenly throughout each month, and they met a much greater percentage of their monthly targets.

In Nicaragua, researchers examined the impact of a national conditional cash transfer (CCT) program on early childhood health and development. They found that the program caused substantial and lasting improvements in child health and development outcomes. However, it seems that program components other than, or in addition to, the cash transfers appear to drive these effects.

Many governments and organizations use finance and management training as a tool to promote small and medium enterprise growth in developing countries, but it is not clear whether or how information from these trainings is shared across SMEs operating in the same area.

In India, a biometrically authenticated payment system reduced corruption and substantially improved the delivery of government social assistance programs despite partial implementation.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of the impact of the Oportunidades CCT program in Mexico on recipients’ investments decisions and long-run poverty levels. They found that the cash transfers promoted long-term increases in consumption through investment in productive activities, enabling beneficiary households to achieve higher living standards that can be sustained even after transitioning off the program.

Researchers compared the impacts of providing group- or individual-liability loans to women in rural Mongolia. Access to group loans increased business ownership and food consumption among poor women, while individual loans had no effect on these outcomes.

In Tanzania, researchers examined whether making cash payments conditional on testing negative for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can improve safe sex practices among young adults. They found that offering cash incentives of US$20 significantly reduced STI rates after one year, although smaller incentives of US$10 had no effect.

Early childhood is an important time for both physical and neurological growth and development, but many children fail to reach their development potential. Researchers introduced an early childhood development program in Colombia to test the effects of psychosocial stimulation and micronutrient supplementation on cognitive, behavioral, and physical growth and development. Psychosocial stimulation initially showed positive effects on cognitive growth, although the micronutrient supplementation had no effect. However, a follow-up study showed that the results on cognitive growth disappeared two years later.

Researchers in Mexico evaluated the impact of providing parent associations with larger grants and more information on educational outcomes. Providing information to parent associations reduced students’ disciplinary actions in schools without improving students’ test scores.