Researchers partnered with the German Federal Employment Agency to evaluate the impact of these contracts on job search behavior and employment outcomes. The contracts accelerated job finding when introduced early in the unemployment spell rather than later, but were only effective among less employable job seekers.

A study conducted in Ghana over 15 years evaluated the benefits of secondary school scholarships on both education and health outcomes.

Researchers randomly assigned employees at garment factories in Bangladesh to either continue collecting their wages in cash, receive direct deposit wage payments into a payroll account, or receive an account but continued to receive wage payments in cash. Exposure to payroll accounts led to increased account use, consumer learning, savings, and trust in mobile banking.

In Bihar, India, researchers examined how double fortified salt could be most effectively priced, marketed, and distributed in order to have the greatest impact on a range of health, education, and economic outcomes.

Researchers tested whether a monitoring system that recorded employees’ fingerprints at the beginning and end of each day could improve staff attendance and patient health in primary health centers in Karnataka. The monitoring system increased attendance among medical staff, but not doctors, and absence penalties were not widely enforced. Though imperfectly implemented, the system led to a large increase in baby birth weight.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, wage job opportunities are limited, and a vast majority of young people are engaged in low-productive work. Many governments support formal apprenticeship programs to help youth find suitable employment, but there is limited evidence on the direct and indirect effects of these public interventions. Researchers partnered with the World Bank and the government of Cote d’Ivoire to evaluate the impact of a subsidized dual apprenticeship program targeting both youth and firms. The apprenticeship program increased participation among youth in formal apprenticeships, and participating firms hired more formal apprentices after the program was implemented.

Researchers are examining the impact of a socioemotional learning curriculum on student mental health, academic achievement, and other social outcomes.

Researchers are partnering with a financial institution in Paraguay to evaluate the impact of a range of tablet-based applications, which remind people to save and help them make savings goals, on savings behavior of low-income individuals.

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.

Researchers evaluated the impact of a vocabulary improvement “edutainment” program for young children, Big Word Club, on children’s receptive vocabulary. Researchers found that the Big Word Club increased students’ knowledge and retention of words included in the program without detracting from other vocabulary development.

A randomized evaluation of the text alert program showed that the intervention reduced course failures, increased class attendance and improved in-class exam scores. The effects are larger for students with below-average GPAs and students in high school, and positive effects persist into the second year of the intervention for these groups. Results suggest low-cost parent engagement interventions can have an impact on student achievement.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of an intensive nurse home visiting program for low-income mothers on pregnancy and birth outcomes, child health and development, and future life-courses for the family. The program had no effect on adverse birth outcomes or prenatal outcomes such as health care utilization; the other categories of outcomes are still being evaluated.

Researchers tested whether an informative letter campaign could reduce inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances in Medicare Part D. Letters had no detectable effect on prescribing. In ongoing work, researchers are testing alternative versions of letters.

This study will examine whether a combination of positive and negative commitment devices can induce long-term smoking cessation in smokers from a low-to-moderate income background in Connecticut.