Information

Policies based on providing information rely on people engaging with it. But how can we design effective information campaigns when people are tempted to ignore them? Evidence from India shows that when people perceive that they have control over out...

A large field experiment in Brazil finds that simply reminding parents to pay attention to school improves student outcomes about the same as sending them detailed, child-specific information – suggesting that informational interventions work largely...

In Guinea, providing information about the risks of migration journeys corrects overly optimistic beliefs and significantly reduces irregular migration intentions and behaviour among young people, without discouraging regular migration.

A large-scale randomised evaluation found that offering rural Kenyans information about earnings in the capital city increased migration and income.

In 2004, a randomised controlled trial provided individuals in Malawi with information about their HIV status, despite treatment being unavailable in the country at the time. Did knowing one’s diagnosis help or hurt?

Despite the high HIV prevalence in Malawi, individuals do not seem to adjust their behaviour to avoid infection—this may be due to the perceived transmission risk being so high that people become fatalistic, assuming they are doomed to HIV infection ...

How should governments communicate reforms to fight corruption without reinforcing citizens’ negative perceptions? A carefully designed information intervention in Honduras provides a promising approach to update citizen beliefs about corruption in t...

Authoritarian regimes cultivate misperceptions about the quality of democratic institutions and the value of democracy. How did an intervention, providing accurate information to voters in Türkiye, address these misperceptions and affect demand for d...

Information is power: a low-cost transparency programme reduced vendor misconduct and increased market efficiency in Ghana’s mobile money market.