Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test both the impact of BRAC’s extension program on economic outcomes and the role of social incentives in shaping the delivery of the program to farmers. While they found that overall, farmers in villages that received the program had higher agricultural profits, the number and type of farmers who were targeted depended on the political alignment between the selected and non-selected delivery agents.

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 likely to purchase a high-return investment, but receiving wages in a tempting market environment had no impact on total expenditure nor spending on temptation goods.

Researchers partnered with five job centers to test whether health counseling targeted at youth increased insurance coverage and health care use, leading to better health and employment outcomes. Encouraging youth to meet with a social worker and with a physician increased enrollment in the public universal health insurance, but did not significantly affect youth’s understanding of their rights and of the insurance reimbursement procedures. The program almost doubled the number of youth that consulted a psychologist and increased the time spent participating in vocational training programs.

Researchers present results from six randomized control trials of an integrated approach to improve livelihoods among the very poor. The impact on the poor households lasted at least a year after all implementation ended.

Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, is struggling with an ageing energy infrastructure and low connectivity to the power grid. William Jack and affiliate Tavneet Suri (MIT) study the impact of off-grid solar power on small retailers in Nairobi.

Researchers evaluated a voter information campaign and exploited the random assignment of reservations for women in village councils to measure the impact of information and reduced incumbent advantage on village council elections. Both interventions increased the number of candidates and drove the worst performers out of the race, though in the case of the voter campaign they had short-term costs in terms of officials’ performance post-election.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of boarding schools on educational outcomes and well-being for children with disadvantaged backgrounds in France. The top third of students admitted to France’s first “boarding school of excellence” had large improvements in math scores after two years, but there were no impacts on French skills for any of the students.

In Cameroon, researchers evaluated the impact of various HIV prevention interventions delivered through schools on girls and young women’s exposure to risk. The interventions decreased the incidence of pregnancy (a marker for unprotected sex) in the following nine to twelve months by over 25 percent. The results did not differ substantially across the various interventions, suggesting sexual behavior of adolescent girls in Cameroon is highly responsive to risk information and salience.

In this study, researchers evaluated the impact of daily SMS medication reminders on treatment outcomes for tuberculosis patients. The study found that SMS reminders had no impact on treatment outcomes, self-reported adherence to the treatment regime, or self-reported physical and psychological health.