Researchers studied hiring discrimination among major employers in the United States by sending fictional resumes, with varying demographic information, to determine whether certain characteristics would lead to different follow-up contact rates. Employers were less likely to contact resumes with distinctively Black names than resumes with distinctively white names.

Partnering with one of the biggest providers of rental agricultural equipment in India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing agricultural equipment vouchers and cash transfers on farmers’ use of machines, their decision to reallocate household labor or hire outside laborers, and their income. Farmers were more likely to rent agricultural equipment and hire workers for agricultural activities, while family members worked less in agriculture.

Researchers partnered with Innovations for Poverty Action and Bangladeshi policymakers to test various strategies to increase mask-wearing and assess the impact of community mask wearing on SARS-CoV-2 infection rates. They found that a four-part intervention tripled mask usage and increased physical distancing. Further, this increase in mask-wearing reduced symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections. When surgical masks were employed, 1 in 3 symptomatic infections were avoided for individuals 60+ years old—the age group that faces the highest risk of death following infection. This was the first large-scale randomized evaluation to demonstrate the effectiveness of masks in a real-world setting.