Evaluations

Many governments and organizations use finance and management training as a tool to promote small and medium enterprise growth in developing countries, but it is not clear whether or how information from these trainings is shared across SMEs operating in the same area.

Low-income populations throughout the world often consume very few calories. At the time of this intervention in 2013, over 800 million people globally consumed fewer calories than were recommended to maintain a healthy weight. However, the impact of low caloric intake on economic productivity is...

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of paying workers on a weekly basis or in one lump sum, as well as of receiving payments in contexts with greater temptation to spend, on their spending and investment decisions. Workers assigned to receive lump-sum wages were more...

Researchers examined whether small incentives and short-term goals could encourage Colombian loan officers to stop procrastinating. Under the new incentive structure, loan officers spread their work more evenly throughout each month, and they met a much greater percentage of their monthly targets.

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 conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing recently unemployed individuals informational brochures about job search strategies that motivated an active search on their labor market outcomes. Providing informational brochures improved the employment and earnings of...

In Bangladesh, researchers evaluated how varying husband-wife dynamics, information, and prices could affect purchases of widely available “improved” stoves, which substantially reduce indoor air pollution. They found that women have stronger preferences for improved stoves than their husbands, but...