In Liberia, researchers tested the effect of an intensive agricultural training program that also provided agricultural supplies and psychosocial counseling on employment activities, income, and socio-political integration. Fourteen months after the program, participants spent more time working in agriculture and less on illicit activities, and their income rose as a result.

An evaluation of a microenterprise assistance program, with and without involving male partners, found that it improved women’s economic outcomes, but that depended on the quality of women’s relationships with their intimate partners. While the program had no impact on IPV, involving male partners did improve relationship quality.

In Ethiopia, researchers randomly assigned mostly female jobseekers to receive an industrial job offer or an unconditional cash transfer, meant to spur self-employment. While they found positive impacts of the cash transfers on occupational choice, income, and health in the first year, these effects largely dissipated after five years, suggesting one-time interventions may be insufficient for overcoming barriers to wage- or self-employment.

To evaluate the demand for solar electricity, researchers randomly offered solar microgrid connections at different prices to households in rural areas of Bihar, India. Demand for microgrids was highly variable and low when they were offered at market price, likely because there were several other sources of electricity providing similar services.

In Ethiopia, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to assess the impact of behavioral nudges on household behaviors, like grain and flour storage, cooking, and consumption, as well as on childhood nutrition. They found that households improved grain storage and cooking practices, and children in those households ate more of the improved maize.

In an ongoing study, researchers are aiming to identify product features that increase demand for commitment savings accounts and evaluate the effect of the accounts on farm investments and yields.

Researchers partnered with a local organization in Malawi to randomly vary the wages offered in a rural cash-for-work program, and evaluate the impact of wages on participants’ willingness to work. They found that nearly three-quarters of participants were willing to perform agricultural work even at very low wages and that wages had a limited impact on most participants’ decision to work.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Cape Town, South Africa to measure the effect of prepaid meters on households’ electricity use and utility revenue. They found that prepaid meters led households to reduce their electricity consumption, but helped the utility company recover more costs.