RCT | VoxDev

What type of contracts do microfinance clients prefer?

Research shows that microfinance clients use credit and savings as commitment devices to accumulate lump sums. Evidence from Pakistan suggests high demand for fixed-repayment contracts, but low demand for commitment add-ons in both credit and savings...

Finance

Uzma Afzal Giovanna d'Adda Marcel Fafchamps Simon Quinn Farah Said

Published

12.03.25

Ngäbe community teacher implements the audio program

Boosting academic success and cultural identity among Indigenous students in Panama

Indigenous students worldwide face significant educational barriers. In Panama, the Ngäbe-Buglé students score among the lowest on national assessments. The JADENKÄ programme, an innovative intercultural bilingual initiative, was launched to address ...

Education

Emma Näslund-Hadley Juan Hernández-Agramonte

Published

03.03.25

Post-harvest loans can stop farmers selling low and buying high

Credit constraints prevent farmers from arbitraging seasonal price fluctuations; integrated financial solutions can enable grain storage, channel returns into forward-looking investments, and smooth seasonal prices, yielding benefits for the broader ...

Agriculture

Sanghamitra Warrier Mukherjee Lauren Falcao Bergquist Marshall Burke Edward Miguel

Published

25.02.25

Can fintech help migrants make better remittance decisions and improve financial inclusion?

Fintech has the potential to enhance financial inclusion and welfare for low-income migrants, but its benefits may be limited for migrants with lower financial literacy.

Finance

Eduardo Nakasone Máximo Torero Angelino Viceisza

Published

21.02.25

mother and child, depicting child-rearing

The challenges of improving parenting practices at scale

Home visitation and group meeting parenting programmes have improved child development in low- and middle-income countries, but are too expensive to be delivered at large scale. Evidence from India shows that a programme using automated phone calls w...

Education

Irma Arteaga Andreas de Barros Alejandro J. Ganimian

Published

25.03.25

Subsidising secondary education has huge benefits, for this generation and the next

As countries in Sub-Saharan Africa debate the costs and benefits of subsidising secondary education, a 15-year RCT in Ghana finds large multi-generation impacts.

Education

Esther Duflo Pascaline Dupas Michael Kremer Elizabeth Spelke Mark Walsh

Published

17.02.25

Coins with Liberian flag, symbolizing tax collection

Know your citizens, increase your revenues: Improving tax payment in Liberia

Legibility—systematised information about citizens—and legal enforcement can produce sustained, cost-effective increases in tax collection.

Institutions & Political Economy

Oyebola Okunogbe

Published

11.02.25

an image of seeds, representing agricultural technology

How the price of agricultural inputs constrains farmers in Bangladesh

There are fears that agricultural subsidies could attract farmers with low returns to use new technologies. Evidence from Bangladesh shows that without subsidies, the price of agricultural inputs is actually a barrier to adoption, highlighting that h...

Agriculture

Mai Mahmoud

Published

10.02.25

image symbolising bias against women, reflecting the topic of this article

Why women in Africa’s services industry must outperform men to overcome customer bias

Workplace discrimination by customers directly, and negatively, impacts women’s outcomes in the service industry in sub-Saharan Africa.

Labour Markets

Erin Kelley Gregory Lane Matthew Pecenco Edward Rubin

Published

07.02.25