Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the relative impact of assignment to different MCOs on health care utilization and expenditure.

Researchers examined the impact of bundled payments on Medicare spending, utilization, and quality of care for knee and hip replacements, two common and expensive medical procedures. Evidence from the first year of implementation of a five-year mandatory bundled payment model showed a reduction in health care utilization, but no evidence of an impact on health care quality, the volume of patients treated, or the mix of patients treated.

In Mozambique, researchers are evaluating the GBV and schooling impacts of implementing a GBV curriculum targeted at students.

Researchers studied the effects of a university policy in South Africa to promote racial integration, by randomly allocating incoming students to roommates of a different race. The policy reduced negative racial stereotypes among white students, improved attitudes and behaviors towards members of other races, and improved academic performance among black students.

Workers with criminal records face substantially lower chances of securing employment compared to similar workers without such records. Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of different approaches, including wage subsidies, crime and safety insurance, past performance reviews, criminal record history, and objective information on worker performance, on managers’ willingness to hire people with criminal records. The study found that policies which directly addressed hiring managers’ concerns about productivity and risk effectively increased demand for workers with criminal records.

In Kenya, researchers assessed the impact of training farmers to verify seed quality on their seed purchasing decisions and productivity, and the responses of seed markets to these changes. Trained farmers became better able to detect seed quality, more selective about where they bought seeds, and experienced higher yields. Sellers, however, did not improve seed quality or adjust their prices in response to the shifts in farmer demand, possibly due to the high cost of doing so. Instead, many opted to exit the market.

Researchers introduced a mobile phone-based agricultural extension service to evaluate its impact on knowledge and adoption of effective farming methods among cotton farmers in Gujarat, India. They found that the service was highly effective in nudging farmers to adopt a number of recommended agricultural technologies, like fertilizer, pesticide, and improved seed varieties, but had no measurable impact on farmers’ yields or profits.

Researchers evaluated the impacts of an incentive program and an adolescent empowerment program on child marriage, teenage childbearing, and education in rural Bangladesh. Financial incentives conditional on delayed marriage reduced child marriage and teenage childbearing, and increased education. The empowerment program increased education but did not reduce child marriage or teenage childbearing.

In France, researchers evaluated the effect of a financial independence and social integration program for young adults living in government-subsidized housing. They analyzed its impact on the young adults’ professional lives, housing situations, financial independence, and general welfare.

Researchers evaluated the effect of a gender-transformative skills-building program on IPV incidence, HIV risk behaviors, and other health outcomes in rural Ethiopia. Overall, the program led to reductions in IPV when delivered to groups of men, but not when delivered to couples or to women only. Further, across all groups, the program increased support for gender equitable norms, increased equity in intrahousehold decision-making, and reduced HIV risk behaviors.

Researchers conducted a two-year randomized evaluation of incentive schemes for tax officials in Punjab, Pakistan that found performance pay significantly increased tax revenues without harming taxpayer satisfaction.

In an ongoing study, researchers are evaluating whether providing subsidized test preparation to high-achieving, low-income students can diminish the barriers to entry to institutions of higher education in Chile.

Researchers evaluated a voter information campaign and exploited the random assignment of reservations for women in village councils to measure the impact of information and reduced incumbent advantage on village council elections. Both interventions increased the number of candidates and drove the worst performers out of the race, though in the case of the voter campaign they had short-term costs in terms of officials’ performance post-election.

Researchers worked with the state government to evaluate the impact of three programs to build demand for vaccination: local immunization ambassadors, small, non-financial incentives, and tailored SMS reminders. The most effective policy option increased measles vaccination by approximately 55 percent by combining local immunization ambassadors selected by the community, incentives that increased in amount across the immunization schedule, and SMS reminders to caregivers about the next scheduled vaccine.

Researchers partnered with several agencies of the Government of Punjab, Pakistan, to evaluate the impact of giving procurement officers more autonomy, compared to financial rewards, on public procurement performance. Shifting authority away from supervisors and towards procurement officers improved performance, particularly when supervisors were more inefficient or corrupt. In contrast, financial rewards for officers did not improve performance when their supervisors were inefficient or corrupt.