Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of two different types of business training—formal business classes and mentorship from a successful entrepreneur in the same industry—on female entrepreneurs’ profits and use of new business practices in Kenya. They found that inexperienced female microenterprise owners benefited from mentorship, leading to increased short-term profits, though these effects faded after mentorship ended. Meanwhile, despite observing changes in business practices, they found that the traditional classroom training had no effect on profits.

Researchers in Ghana introduced financial literacy training and crop price insurance to determine their impact on farmers' willingness to take out loans and make long-term investments. Results show that farmers who received the training and insurance were only slightly more likely to borrow and make investments. However, these limited impacts may be in part due to small sample size and high take-up of loans in the comparison group.

Researchers partnered with the Government of Indonesia to conduct a randomized evaluation that tested whether adding questions on flat-screen televisions and cellphone SIM cards to a targeting census would change people’s reporting and actual purchases of those items. The findings suggest that while targeting may cause people to misreport what they own in the short term for some goods, it is unlikely to change people’s decisions about whether to actually purchase those items.

In Chile, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the effect of providing free after-school care on women’s labor market outcomes. The program increased women’s labor force participation and employment, and increased the use of daycare for young children who were ineligible for the program, suggesting that women need childcare for all of their children in order to join the labor market.

Researchers are evaluating the demand for a commitment savings product among garment workers and evaluating whether employer influence and expected feedback to employers impacts sign-up decisions.

To test the impact of an automated phone call from a credible source on voters’ preferences and behavior, researchers delivered the message to random voters in two concurrent randomized evaluations. The call did not increase voter turnout or change voter preferences, suggesting that automated phone calls may not be a cost-effective strategy for communicating with and mobilizing constituents.

This evaluation tests the impacts of providing larger loans to microcredit borrowers on both firms and microfinance institutions.

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.

In collaboration with the French employment agency Pôle Emploi, researchers evaluated whether interview and hiring rates of minority candidates changed when employers collect anonymous resumes. Making resumes anonymous did not affect the average number of interviews and job offers volunteer firms made, the length of the hiring process, or the use of other recruitment channels, but it reduced the likelihood that firms interview and hire minority candidates.

In Indonesia and Tanzania, researchers conducted a mixed methods randomized evaluation of a transparency and accountability program designed to improve maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes, known as the Transparency for Development (T4D) program. While the T4D program drew strong participation, it had no impact on the use or content of MNH services, perceptions of civic efficacy, or participation among recent mothers in communities offered the program.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Nigeria to determine whether a campaign against electoral violence could spread through social networks to affect the perceptions and behaviors not only of the individuals targeted by the campaign but also others to whom they have social ties. The clearest effects of the campaign were on decreasing the perceptions of violence among those with social ties to the targeted individuals, most often through family links.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of improved microcredit loan design on its take-up, as well as the welfare and business conditions of borrowers.

Energy-efficient technologies, such as compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs), have the potential to save consumers money, but their adoption remains low. Researchers evaluated the impact of information and price on demand for CFLs in two contexts: an online survey platform and a typical retail setting. Information and subsidies increased consumers’ willingness to purchase CFLs. Researchers estimate that CFL subsidies and information may be more beneficial than bans on incandescent lightbulbs.

Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of an information campaign about fertilizer quality on farmers’ beliefs and their purchase and use of fertilizer. The information campaign led farmers to change their beliefs about the quality of fertilizer available in local markets and to buy more fertilizer.