Researchers are using Western Seed Company's expansion into new areas to evaluate the socio-economic effects of the hybrid maize program in Western and Central Kenya.

Researchers evaluated the impact of bank accounts that allowed mobile deposits on savings behavior in Sri Lanka. Few account holders used the service frequently, even when offered for free. Mobile-linked accounts increased savings deposits with the partner bank and formal banks more generally but had no impact on total savings.

During the 2016 Ugandan elections, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of an anti-vote-buying campaign to study voter behavior and electoral outcomes. Overall, the campaign did not reduce the extent of vote buying, but it had substantial effects on electoral outcomes.

Researchers evaluated the impact of poverty reduction via an unconditional cash transfer to mothers on child neurodevelopment. Children in families that received a $333 monthly transfer displayed different brain activity patterns than children whose mothers received only $20 a month.

To investigate which strategies are most effective at preventing drunk driving and reducing traffic accidents, researchers partnered with the Rajasthan Police in India to evaluate an anti-drunk driving program using sobriety testing checkpoints. Overall, the anti-drunk driving program was effective in reducing traffic deaths and accidents, with these reductions driven entirely by police stations that implemented surprise checkpoints.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Zambia to test the impact of a peer-based information campaign, consisting of SMS messages and small cash incentives, on people’s adherence to Covid-19 health protocols. Participants forwarded public health SMSs when they were encouraged to do so, yet financial incentives did not increase the number of messages sent. Participants and their peers did not change their precautionary health behaviors.

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.

Researchers partnered with the Government of Sierra Leone to evaluate the impact of community monitoring and nonfinancial awards programs on health care utilization and health outcomes. Both programs improved clinic utilization, patient satisfaction, and symptom reporting during the 2014 Ebola crisis. Further, community monitoring improved child health and reduced mortality among Ebola patients.

In low- to middle-income countries around the world, nearly one billion people lived in urban informal settlements as of 2018. Rapid urbanization in most large African cities has led to both more people and a higher proportion of people living in informal settlements over time. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of winning the housing lottery on the demand for formal government housing, consumption, labor market outcomes, social networks, and community and public goods in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Winning the housing lottery increased demand for formal government housing: nearly 46 percent of participant households that win the lottery chose to move into their formal housing, indicating many prefer to live in government housing despite the high implicit cost that they pay to do so.

The City of Chelsea implemented a cash transfer program called Chelsea Eats, which provided eligible households with up to US$400 per month for nine months. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation on the impact of the unconditional cash transfer on health care utilization and a variety of health outcomes. Those who received the cash transfer had fewer emergency department visits, including those related to behavioral health or substance use, fewer admissions to the hospital from the emergency department, and more outpatient visits to subspecialists than those who did not receive the cash transfer.

Researchers are working with small- and medium-sized enterprises in the leather goods and footwear manufacturing sector in Bangladesh to understand the role of information in the adoption of energy-efficient motors for stitching machines, as well as firms’ perception of and willingness to pay for the new technology. This study in ongoing and results are forthcoming.

In Mali, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test how the design and timing of a physical market for inputs (village input fairs) with varying levels of credit access affected farmers’ investment decisions. They found that farmers with access to credit from VIFs organized after harvest increased their demand for inputs while farmers offered VIFs at planting without access to credit did not.

Rapidly rising health care costs in the United States have generated interest in identifying effective ways to improve the quality of care delivery and reduce waste within the health care system. In this study, researchers evaluated the impact of a care management program that provides medical and social assistance to individuals with complex needs who incur high health care costs.