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.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, wage job opportunities are limited, and a vast majority of young people are engaged in low-productive work. Many governments support formal apprenticeship programs to help youth find suitable employment, but there is limited evidence on the direct and indirect effects of these public interventions. Researchers partnered with the World Bank and the government of Cote d’Ivoire to evaluate the impact of a subsidized dual apprenticeship program targeting both youth and firms. The apprenticeship program increased participation among youth in formal apprenticeships, and participating firms hired more formal apprentices after the program was implemented.

By leveraging a unique, long-lasting relationship with an armed organization in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the researcher aims to better understand who joins armed organizations and why, as well as the effect of the participation motives on performance inside the group.

In Western Kenya, researchers compared three different approaches to subsidizing dilute chlorine solution to treat drinking water: a partial subsidy, a twelve month supply of free chlorine through monthly vouchers, and a twelve month supply of free chlorine hand-delivered. Safe water rates were much lower for households who had to co-pay for chlorine, but similar between households who received chlorine for free and households who had to redeem complimentary vouchers. This suggests that vouchers screened out households that would accept but not use the product under free immediate distribution, thereby keeping most of the benefits of free distribution while reducing wastage.

Researchers introduced a performance recognition system for employees to improve record keeping in clinics in Ekiti and Niger, Nigeria. They found that the performance recognition improved record keeping in Ekiti but not in Niger. Researchers suggested that important institutional, managerial and behavioral variables that were not measured may have played a key role in determining the viability and effectiveness of the intervention in each state.