Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of public health messages on hand washing and compliance with government mandated guidelines in Mexico.

To better understand barriers to COVID-19 testing for underserved communities, researchers evaluated the impact of varying flyer messaging and survey incentive rates on survey responses. Researchers will use survey responses to identify the most important barriers to testing and potential community leaders to effectively disseminate vital public health information. This research is ongoing. Results forthcoming.

In Mexico, researchers evaluated the impact of PROGRESA, a national conditional cash transfer program, on marriages and divorces. Researchers found that, in the short-term, the program did not affect the number of marriages but increased the number of divorces and separations.

In partnership with the Government of Jharkhand, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to study the impact of unconditional, framed cash transfers to pregnant women and lactating mothers on child health.

Using data from a previous randomized evaluation in rural India that tested the effect of asset transfers to low-income households on overall consumption, researchers analyzed whether an increase in household wealth led to changes in energy use. While households consumed significantly more energy after the asset transfer, they did not reduce their use of dirty fuels.

Researchers evaluated whether Boston’s SYEP had an effect on the criminal justice outcomes of participants and sought to gauge the potential mechanisms driving these effects. The program reduced participants’ violent and property crime-related arraignments.

Researchers worked with Innovations for Poverty Action, the Liberian Ministry of Education, and the group of eight private operators to conduct a randomized evaluation to assess the effects of outsourcing management of public schools after one and three years.

Manufacturing jobs can improve women’s economic empowerment, but health issues or caretaking often drive women out of the labor force. In partnership with a large garment Banladeshi manufactory firm, researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of text messages about paid sick leave on workers' health and job satisfaction.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of reducing the psychological costs of job applications, such as the tendency to postpone applications because completing a task today seems more burdensome than tomorrow, on job application rates and interviews in Lahore, Pakistan. The intervention, which involved follow-up calls inviting job seekers to apply for jobs, increased the number of job applications and interviews. The benefits of applying to jobs were similar after the increase in applications, suggesting that psychological costs play an important role in job search behavior.

Researchers evaluated a secondary school readiness program, Utkarsh, that provided targeted instruction to students in Odisha, India.

Researchers are evaluating the effectiveness of an interactive WhatsApp-based couples communication, financial education, and COVID-19 information program in promoting low-income households' financial resiliency and reducing IPV rates in Colombia. Research is ongoing; results forthcoming.

In partnership with the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations of Peru, researchers are evaluating a text-based campaign designed to help men regulate their emotions and reduce perpetration of IPV during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of changes in school management practices on student outcomes over time by introducing a large-scale principal training program for school directors in Puerto Rico and testing different strategies to sustain improved management practices after the program.

In Mexico, researchers evaluated a math tutoring intervention and a cognitive behavioral therapy-based (CBT) program that aimed to encourage students to slow their decision-making processes and to improve academic readiness for secondary school students at risk of dropping out. The study found mixed effects on socio-emotional skills among students, and no effect on math test scores, though take-up was limited.

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test whether providing traders “bonuses” for high-quality coffee affects the prices traders offer farmers for their coffee and whether this, in turn, affects farmers’ incentives to invest in the quality of their production.