Empowering women not only has the potential to improve their lives, but also their children's health and education. In partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and BRAC, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether encouraging women to make weekly loan repayments through mobile money, instead of cash, helps them take control of their finances. The program increased mobile money use for loan repayment, savings, and other transactions and boosted women’s decision-making power at home.

Researchers are evaluating the impact of a gender-sensitization training for police officers in Bihar, India, using expressive arts techniques, on police officers’ attitudes towards gender-based violence as well as women’s safety and economic agency.

Researchers assessed the impact of financial incentives and peer endorsement on mobile banking adoption and formal savings in Ghana. While financial incentives boosted adoption by 50 percent, peer endorsement was twice as effective, leading to sustained mobile banking use and a 30 percent increase in savings six months later.

In Togo, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the effect of cash grants on people's welfare and if using mobile phone data in impact evaluations yielded the same results as survey data. They found that the cash grant program increased food security, mental health, and self-perceived socioeconomic status. However, evaluating only the mobile phone data did not produce reliable estimates of the effect of the program.

In partnership with Health Access Connect, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of a community-led primary healthcare outreach program on women’s contraceptive choices, healthcare use, and work decisions in rural Uganda.

In urban India, researchers are testing whether helping women and men start STEM careers through a job training program improves their employment and earnings, and, for women, enhances economic empowerment and shapes family planning choices.

I n Senegal, researchers are testing whether encouraging women to join vocational training through scholarships and supportive information from past participants and their families can shape women’s work and family aspirations, their employment decisions, and their families’ perspectives on women’s work.

Researchers studied Zambia's Teaching at the Right Level program, delivered by government teachers nationwide, using a pre-registered cluster-randomized trial and an event study covering 4.4 million exam scores. After two years, the program improved children’s foundational literacy and numeracy. Gains in mathematics were concentrated in the procedural skills the program targets, with near-zero improvement in other competencies. Yet by the end of primary school, cohorts exposed to the program scored higher on comprehensive leaving exams in both subjects. This contrast suggests that the broader returns to targeting foundational skills can operate over longer horizons.

In Northern Ghana, researchers tested whether providing information could encourage mothers to talk more with their infants, thereby improving child development. Six to eight months after the intervention, mothers who received the information reported they were more likely to talk to their infants and that their children showed stronger language and communication skills.

In partnership with Yamba Malawi, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a Graduation-style program, integrating cash transfers, child health and business training, preventive health and fertility coaching, and village savings groups, on women’s livelihoods, empowerment, family planning decisions, and their children’s health in Malawi.

In rural India, researchers are testing whether helping women access public employment and receive wages through direct deposit into individual bank accounts can increase their chances of being employed, their control over earnings, and ultimately their family planning decisions.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of unconditional cash transfers, a psychotherapy program, and their combination on psychological and economic well-being in rural Kenya.

This project used a randomized evaluation to study the effect of a learning program targeting adolescent girls on their education, aspirations, and empowerment.

Researchers evaluated the impact of gender-based discrimination on female teleworkers’ productivity in online sales interactions with customers in Africa. When a customer chat representative had a female-sounding name, it led to significantly fewer purchases, and slower and more reserved reactions from customers.

A researcher evaluated the impact of empowerment training for female citizens and training for male council chairs on women's participation in neighborhood associations, known as rukun tetangga (RT) in Malang, East Java, Indonesia.