Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Colombia to assess the effects of emergency cash assistance on the well-being of households. Recipients of the UCT experienced improved financial health, food access, and psychological well-being. Colombia’s newly implemented mobile money system allowed for quick fund disbursement, but its effectiveness for vulnerable populations may have been weakened by nascent digital systems.

The researcher evaluated an opposition party’s door-to-door information campaign regarding increases in executive power or executive performance to determine the impact of widespread, non-state-authorized information on voter partisanship. In neighborhoods with majority opposition supporters, opposition increased; in neighborhoods with majority incumbent supporters, incumbent support increased.

In Uganda, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing a soft skills certificate to both employers and job seekers during job interviews on matching in the labor market. The certificates caused workers to increase their expectations of finding the right job, while high-ability managers were more likely to have a positive assessment of workers’ skills.

In this randomized evaluation in Honduras, researchers assessed how the national Programa de Asignación Familiar (Family Allowance Program) CCT program, which provided a combination of transfers to households and transfers to support public goods, influenced voting in local and national elections. In municipalities where households received direct transfers, incumbent mayors faced a higher likelihood of re-election (an increase of 39 percent), but there was no impact on presidential election outcomes for any combination of transfers.