Labor movements can improve workers’ lives but face great difficulty in getting workers to agree on common goals and take collective actions. In garment factory workers’ group discussions on minimum wage policies in Myanmar, researchers randomly included union leaders to study whether the presence of union leaders affected workers’ preferences and behavior. Union leaders’ presence at group discussions increased the degree of agreement between the workers’ and unions’ preferred wage levels, and made it more likely that workers participated in a subsequent group activity, suggesting that union leaders both helped form workers’ consensus and motivated them to take collective actions. Researchers found evidence that union leaders’ influence on these outcomes came from the leaders’ ability and skills rather than formal title or social ties.

In Egypt, a sizable portion of the prison population is incarcerated solely for failing to repay private debts, highlighting serious concerns about the social, economic, and legal consequences of debtor imprisonment. Researchers are conducting two randomized evaluations, the first tests the impact of paying off the debts of incarcerated individuals on their post-release outcomes. The second study examines how the threat of imprisonment affects moral hazards and adverse selection in credit markets.