News

Researchers evaluated how microcredit clients in South Africa responded to changes in loan terms. They found that clients adapted both their demand and compliance based on loan terms, and were particularly sensitive to above-average interest rates.

Can monetary incentives induce rural farmers to migrate to cities and pursue seasonal labor opportunities during times of famine?

In “the text message capital of the world,” the Philippines, researchers tested the effect of text message reminders on client repayment rates. In contrast with previous research, they found that text message reminders did not increase repayment on average. Yet for repeat borrowers, who had known...

In Nigeria, researchers worked with a financial service provider to evaluate the impact of digital loans on welfare. Being approved for the loans increased subjective well-being after three months, for applicants who normally would have been denied.

Researchers evaluated the expansion of a rural financial services provider in Tamil Nadu, India in order to understand how access to financial services, information, and exposure to risk affect technology adoption and well-being among farming households.

There is substantial evidence that, in the short-term, conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs improve health and nutritional outcomes for young children. Researchers studied the effects of a CCT program in Mexico, which required school attendance and preventive medical care, on child health and...

Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but...

Researchers studied how a school grant program affected learning outcomes and household spending. After the first year of the grant program, students in treatment schools performed significantly better than those in comparison schools, but by the end of the second year, there was no detectable...