Researchers evaluated the impact of a bid training program on the business performance of local small and medium-sized firms. The bid training led firms to bid on and win more contracts, with the positive impacts concentrated on a quarter of firms.

In partnership with the Kasai Central Provincial Tax Ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the researcher conducted a randomized evaluation to identify the direct and indirect effects of varying levels of enforcement on firms’ tax compliance and their likelihood to pay bribes.

To diminish the effect of bribes on voter behavior, researchers designed and evaluated a non-partisan anti-vote-buying radio campaign during the 2014 Indian general election. Researchers assessed whether voters in areas that were randomly assigned to receive the radio campaign became less likely to vote for the reputed vote-buying parties. Researchers found that the radio campaign decreased the vote share of vote-buying parties by 3.5 to 7.1 percentage points.

Researchers measured the impact of a government apprenticeship program for youth in Ghana on wages, employment, skills, fertility, migration, and other outcomes. The results suggest that apprenticeship programs can provide youth with skills and transition them into self-employment.

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Nigeria to determine whether a campaign against electoral violence could spread through social networks to affect the perceptions and behaviors not only of the individuals targeted by the campaign but also others to whom they have social ties. The clearest effects of the campaign were on decreasing the perceptions of violence among those with social ties to the targeted individuals, most often through family links.