To test this theory, researchers evaluated a multi-faceted approach aimed at improving long term income of the ultra-poor in multiple countries, including Yemen.

Researchers studied the impact of reminder letters addressing possible barriers related to information and behavior on insurance take-up, as well as their impact on health insurance market risk. The reminder letters reducing informational and behavioral barriers to enrollment increased insurance take-up and lowered the average market risk.

Encouraging the adoption of health seeking behaviors remains a challenge today, despite the affordability and availability of health improving technologies and services. Researchers tested whether providing principals in rural primary schools in China with information, school subsidies, and performance based financial incentives reduced the prevalence of anemia in schools. Only schools receiving the financial incentive showed a significant decrease in anemia prevalence; however when pre-existing incentives for educational performance were also present, both the information and the financial incentives were effective in reducing anemia.

Researchers are testing the impact that stress-tolerant seeds, which have better yields than conventional varieties under weather shocks, affect landless laborers.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether organizing short learning sessions for villagers about early adopters’ use of a flood-tolerant rice seed variety, Swarna-Sub1, impacted other farmers’ adoption of it. These “farmer field days” were a cost-effective strategy to improve farmers’ learning about Swarna-Sub1 and increased their take-up of Swarna-Sub1 in the next planting season by 40 percent.

A study on parents’ demand for conditionality in a Brazilian cash transfer program revealed that parents are willing to pay to for the conditionality in order to monitor their children’s school attendance.