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Mobile Money Usage and Expectations of Violence in Afghanistan

Joshua Blumenstock
Researchers evaluated the relationship between mobile money usage and violence in Afghanistan. Results suggest that access to a mobile salary payment system increased mobile money usage, but expectations of violence significantly decreased usage and increased cash savings instead.

Peer Pressure and Educational Investments in the United States

Researchers offered high school students the opportunity to sign up for free access to an online SAT preparatory course. Some students were told that their decision to sign up would be public, and others were told that their decision would be kept private. In non-honors classes, sign-up rates were...

The Impact of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Cash Transfers on High-Risk Young Men in Liberia

Sebastian Chaskel
Margaret Sheridan
To understand the long-term effectiveness of CBT among adults, researchers evaluated the impact of a short-term CBT program and the distribution of unconditional cash transfers on the behavior of high-risk young men in Liberia. CBT reduced criminal behavior among participants both in the short run...

Nudging Medical Providers to Adopt and Sustain Better Quality Care Practices in Argentina

Resistance to change can prevent medical practitioners from providing their patients with the best possible care. Within the context of an existing results-based financing program in public health clinics in Argentina, researchers evaluated the impact of a temporary increase in price incentives on...

Structured Study Time, Self-Efficacy, and Tutoring

In this study, researchers evaluated scalable methods to improve student retention and performance in an online course, with the goal of improving meaningful access to this resource.

Accountability and Transparency in the Mining Sector of Peru

Researchers evaluated an accountability workshop program, which educated citizens on the distribution of extractive industry tax revenues and the formal means of local political participation. The program had mixed results on local government quality, increasing the likelihood of initiating recall...

Incentivizing Property Tax Inspectors through Performance-Based Postings in Pakistan

Together with the provincial government, researchers evaluated the impact of a performance-based incentive scheme on tax inspectors’ performance in Punjab, Pakistan. The incentive scheme allowed tax inspectors to choose their next posting location based on their past performance; specifically, how...

The role of information, accountability and resource gaps in explaining poor urban services quality in Addis Ababa and its rapidly urbanizing surroundings

Girum Abebe
Tigabu Degu Getahun
In partnership with the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI), researchers are providing report cards that document citizen satisfaction with a range of public services to various levels of government officials to measure the impact of information and accountability on public service...