Researchers evaluated the impact of case management and immediate financial assistance compared to only financial assistance on housing and health outcomes for youth and families with children.

Researchers partnered with the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) in Brazil to evaluate the impact of access to research results on policymakers’ demand for research findings and interest in adopting evidence-informed policies. Policymakers were willing to pay for research findings and subsequently updated their beliefs. Those who were invited to an information session on a simple, evidence-informed policy to increase tax compliance were more likely to implement that policy within the next two years.

Researchers partnered with the government of Uruguay to evaluate the impact of a national youth employment program. The program increased participants’ earnings and school enrollment during and up to two years after the program, suggesting that work-study programs may ease students’ school-to-work transition.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to determine the effect of a school-based management program, Programa Escuelas de Calidad, on student performance in Mexico. The program combined a cash grant with state support to design and carry out school improvement plans. The intervention did not have any effect on school performance after one year.

Researchers evaluated whether giving traditional birth attendants (TBAs) cash incentives for maternal postnatal referrals can increase uptake of skilled maternal postnatal care. Cash rewards increased referrals made by TBAs by 182 percent and more than tripled the proportion of clients that attended postnatal care. However, clients of incentivized TBAs were still much less likely to receive postnatal care compared to mothers delivering in a health facility, suggesting that other potential barriers may prevent women from seeking and accessing care.

To better understand how to measure and report depression, researchers randomized the order of questions in a national survey to examine the effect of triggering memories of difficult events, such as conflicts, shocks, and death, on reported levels of depression across households in Nigeria. They found that having his/her painful memories triggered, respondents who experienced an adverse event were more likely to report symptoms of depression.

The researcher conducted a randomization in rural Odisha in India, by comparing adoption of a new seed variety through farmer-to-farmer networks in one half as benchmarked by door-to-door sales of the same seed. Trading between farmers leads to substantial under-adoption of agricultural technology relative to the door-to-door sales. Diffusion is partially but not fully explained by social networks.

Researchers evaluated the impact of a financial literacy program for Filipino domestic workers based in Singapore on their financial knowledge, behavior, savings, and remittances. While there was no evidence that being invited to join the program had any impact on financial knowledge or behavior, program invitees reported reductions in self-reported savings, as well as more disagreements with family members over how to spend remittances. The program may have encouraged participants to seek more accurate information on household spending and saving.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of a digital school fee loan, with and without a direct repayment incentive, on repayment rates, households’ well-being, and students’ educational outcomes.

Working with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone, researchers evaluated the impact of incentivizing community health workers (CHWs), their supervisors, or both on health care provision. Sharing the incentive between CHWs and their supervisors resulted in more health care visits than providing the incentive just to one group or the other; only the shared incentive improved overall health care provision and outcomes.

Researchers randomly assigned co-supervisors to production lines to evaluate the impact of exposing garment factory workers and supervisors to women managers on factory productivity, supervisor retention, and attitudes toward women. Several months after the intervention, there was no difference in productivity between lines managed by women and men, a higher rate of women promoted to supervisor relative to comparison factories, and more accurate ratings of women’s managerial abilities.