In Mexico, researchers are testing whether this lagging productivity could be due to lower managerial capacity. They found that providing subsidized managerial consulting to Mexican SMEs boosted their productivity and hiring.

Researchers evaluated the academic impact of a “Cadillac” OST program in Washington, DC. Researchers found that the program increased students’ problem-solving and reading comprehension scores after two years.

In three related evaluations in India, researchers introduced an early childhood reading and comprehension program (Shishuvachan) in different contexts—integrated into first-grade classes in Mumbai public schools, implemented in preschools that were specifically designed to implement this program, and integrated into established preschool classes—in order to measure its impact on early literacy rates. Results show that the Shishuvachan program was very effective in improving students' reading skills.

Researchers offered two days of business training and assistance in identifying a medium-term financial goal to a random sample of women of different castes and religions in India. A random sub-sample of women were invited to attend the training with a friend. Women trained with a friend doubled their demand for loans and expanded their business activity, resulting in higher household income. This impact was stronger among women from religious or caste groups with social norms that restrict female mobility.

Researchers partnered with the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) in Brazil to evaluate the impact of access to research results on policymakers’ demand for research findings and interest in adopting evidence-informed policies. Policymakers were willing to pay for research findings and subsequently updated their beliefs. Those who were invited to an information session on a simple, evidence-informed policy to increase tax compliance were more likely to implement that policy within the next two years.

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 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.

Youth living in poor urban areas face a number of psychological and social barriers to finding work. In France, over 40 percent of these youth are unemployed, twice as much the national youth unemployment rate. Researchers partnered with the French Public Employment Services to test the effectiveness of a collective job-search program targeting disadvantaged youth. Collective counseling was more effective in helping youth find a stable, full-time job than individual job counseling. The program performed better for jobseekers with higher employment prospects prior to the program, and in groups where participants had similar employment prospects.

Researchers are partnering with a leading mobile network operator to investigate how the internet affects financial and economic outcomes, particularly for women.

Researchers evaluated the impact of a series of class discussions in middle school that emphasized the importance of these skills on student behavior and test scores. The program improved participating students’ academic achievement, particularly among girls, well-behaved students, and non-recipients of financial aid.

Researchers randomly assigned employees at garment factories in Bangladesh to either continue collecting their wages in cash, receive direct deposit wage payments into a payroll account, or receive an account but continued to receive wage payments in cash. Exposure to payroll accounts led to increased account use, consumer learning, savings, and trust in mobile banking.

Researchers studied the impact of a summer jobs program in Chicago on crime, education, and employment. The program dramatically reduced violent-crime arrests, including in the following school year, though it did not influence schooling or formal employment, and may have increased property crime in future years. Using a machine learning technique, the researchers find that the youth with the largest improvements in employment are not the disconnected youth usually targeted by employment programs.