In this randomized evaluation in Romania, researchers compared the roles of preferences and information in households’ decision-making, with regard to high school selection. Results suggest that households provided with information on school quality tend to choose schools that have a greater academic impact on their children. However, households’ preferences for other school attributes also factor into their decision-making, including peer quality, location, and, most importantly, curriculum.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Colombia to assess the effects of emergency cash assistance on the well-being of households. Recipients of the UCT experienced improved financial health, food access, and psychological well-being. Colombia’s newly implemented mobile money system allowed for quick fund disbursement, but its effectiveness for vulnerable populations may have been weakened by nascent digital systems.

Women of lower socioeconomic status adhere to recommended prenatal care regimens at lower rates, which can have adverse effects on both maternal and newborn outcomes. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact a financial incentive of € 30 ($33.89) per visit per month on rates of treatment adherence and on health outcomes.

In partnership with the Polish Tax Office, researchers conducted a nation-wide randomized evaluation to test the impact of sending tax enforcement letters with behavioral messages on tax compliance among delinquent taxpayers. The results indicate that behavioral letters significantly improved tax compliance relative to the status quo letter, and sending letters by regular mail (the cheaper option) was just as effective as sending via registered mail.

Researchers partnered with the tax authority in Belgium to understand what types of messages drive people to comply with their taxes. Results show that simplified messages, as well as messages that highlighted the consequences of non-compliance, induced people to file and pay their taxes sooner. On the other hand, messages aimed at promoting social norms around filing and paying taxes on time, and the social value of public expenditure, had no effects and sometimes even reduced compliance.

Workers without social connections may be disadvantaged in the labor market because employers favor applicants who have been referred. Researchers tested three interventions in an online labor market to investigate why employers are more likely to hire referred workers. First, referrals provide a signal that workers will perform well and have lower turnover. Referred workers outperformed and had lower churn than non-referred workers with the same observable characteristics. This is true even at companies to which they were not referred. Second, being referred makes workers more productive. Referred workers were particularly productive when they work with their referrers. However, workers’ concerns about their reputation with their referrer or their referrer’s position at the firm did not lead workers to exert more effort.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test how demand for weather insurance responded to different marketing schemes and price discounts. They found that demand was very price sensitive, but that poor understanding of the product, distrust of insurance agents, and liquidity constraints also limited take-up.

In Uganda, researchers are evaluating the impact of the “Solar Suitcase” designed specifically for maternity care facilities on the reliability of light, quality of care, and health worker satisfaction.

Researchers evaluated whether the ethnicities of wholesale buyers and sellers in Chennai, India, affected the transaction terms. They found that traders offered lower prices to buyers of the same ethnicity, but not necessarily because they trusted them 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.

In Tanzania, researchers examined whether making cash payments conditional on testing negative for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can improve safe sex practices among young adults. They found that offering cash incentives of US$20 significantly reduced STI rates after one year, although smaller incentives of US$10 had no effect.

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.

In many developing countries, absenteeism, lack of accountability, and corruption among public employees prevent the effective distribution of public services. Researchers examined how performance incentives and increased resources for school principals affected the implementation of a school-based nutrition program targeting anemia in rural China. Large incentives and large block grants individually led to significant reductions in anemia, but when schools received a large block grant, there was no additional effect from adding large incentives.