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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...

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...

Researchers partnered with a large Indonesian Islamic bank to evaluate the impact of sending moral appeals in reminder text messages to late-paying credit card holders. Messages stating that non-repayment of debts by someone who is able to repay is an injustice increased the number of clients...

Researchers evaluated the impact of Padua, a holistic, individualized, wrap-around support program for individuals who have recently experienced a negative economic shock. Exploratory analyses suggest that Padua impacted housing and employment outcomes specific to participants’ individual needs.

Researchers examined the informational, behavioral, and monetary drivers behind takeup of residential energy efficiency audits and subsequent investments in Wisconsin. While receipt of promotional letters and subsidies did induce higher rates of audit participation, overall takeup and investment in...

Researchers partnered with a water company in Zambia to evaluate whether improved information and incentives can help households manage their water usage. They found that targeting incentives to higher household water consumers might be an effective way to reduce water consumption.

Researchers partnered with banks in three countries to see if removing the costs to opening basic bank accounts would lead to more households opening and using bank accounts. Overall, use of the accounts was low across all three countries, and being offered a free, basic bank account had no impact...

Despite the initial promise of microcredit, randomized evaluations have found at best modest effects of microloans on poverty. Digitized payments from government cash transfer programs provide a unique opportunity to offer microcredit while addressing some of its shortcomings, potentially reducing...