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Researchers evaluated the impact of providing schools with an unconditional cash grant, a teacher incentive program, or both on student learning. The cash grant had no impact on student learning, while the teacher incentive program had mixed results. However, combining both programs together had an...

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Cape Town, South Africa to measure the effect of prepaid meters on households’ electricity use and utility revenue. They found that prepaid meters led households to reduce their electricity consumption, but helped the utility company recover more...

In India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impacts of providing long-range, seasonal weather forecasts on farmers’ investments on and off the farm, and their well-being. They found that farmers who had access to the forecast updated their beliefs about the upcoming...

Researchers examined the impact of local watchdog journalism investigations on public service provision. Local journalism improved government performance and service delivery, likely by helping central governments monitor bureaucrats at the district-level.

Self-control problems can lead people to fall short of their personal and professional goals, often resulting in lower than desired workplace productivity. Researchers, in partnership with an Indian data entry firm, conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether self-control problems existed in...

Researchers studied the impact of reminder letters addressing possible barriers related to information and behavior on insurance take-up, as well as their impact on health insurance market risk. The reminder letters reducing informational and behavioral barriers to enrollment increased insurance...

Researchers ran an evaluation in Niger to determine if training adults to use mobile phones could improve their learning outcomes when added to a standard adult education program. The mobile phone program increased student writing and math test scores relative to the standard curriculum.