RCT | VoxDev

Can simpler, cheaper graduation programmes still deliver?

A randomised evaluation of a lower-cost graduation-style programme in rural Ethiopia finds modest gains in savings and livestock income but no sustained improvements in consumption or food security, suggesting that smaller transfers and lighter suppo...

Social Protection

Jessica Leight Daniel Gilligan Melissa Hidrobo Harold Alderman Michael Mulford

Published

25.03.26

The race between the marriage and the labour markets

In Pakistan, encouraging women to apply for jobs immediately after graduation significantly improves their likelihood of working by enabling them to enter the labour market before marriage pressures intensify. Results are driven by the women who misp...

Labour Markets

Oriana Bandiera Amen Jalal Nina Roussille

Published

19.03.26

What makes civilians evacuate during war

Evidence from Ukraine shows that civilians’ failure to evacuate during war is driven mainly by practical barriers rather than psychological resistance, with clear information and organised transport proving more effective than behavioural ‘nudges’ in...

Institutions & Political Economy

Seung-Keun Martinez Monika Pompeo Roman Sheremeta Volodymyr Vakhitov Matthias Weber Nataliia Zaika

Published

23.03.26

How AI tutors improved learning in Nigeria

Generative AI is reshaping education, but whether it strengthens learning or undermines it may depend on how it is used. In a randomised controlled trial in nine public secondary schools in Edo State, Nigeria, we tested a six-week after-school progra...

Education

Martín De Simone Federico Tiberti

Published

17.03.26

Can providing information reduce risky migration?

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.

Migration & Urbanisation

Giacomo Battiston Lucia Corno Eliana La Ferrara

Published

16.03.26

Fostering negotiation skills in land and forest agreements

Negotiation training improves the ability of Liberian communities to strike beneficial deals around forest and land management by strengthening leaders’ ability to identify mutually beneficial, higher-value agreements. However, it does not substantia...

Agriculture

Darin Christensen Alexandra Hartman Cyrus Samii Alessandro Toppeta

Published

05.03.26

Credit card default is driven by job loss, not contract terms

Evidence from Mexico shows that job loss and employment instability – rather than high interest rates or minimum payment rules – are more important drivers of credit card default among new borrowers, suggesting that social protection may be more effe...

Finance

Sara G. Castellanos Diego Jiménez Hernández Aprajit Mahajan Eduardo Alcaraz Prous Enrique Seira

Published

20.03.26

Can home visits enhance the impact of cash transfers?

Adding home visits to a social safety net programme providing cash transfers and parenting information led to sustained improvements in child development, health behaviours, and education outcomes in Burkina Faso, whereas cash alone produced fewer la...

Social Protection

Richard Akresh Damien de Walque Harounan Kazianga Abigail Stocker

Published

26.02.26

When women can’t move freely and easily, they can’t participate in the labour force

Women’s participation in skills training Pakistan is constrained primarily by social and safety barriers, rather than preferences or the ability to monetise skills. Evidence from interventions that reduce these constraints shows that addressing mobil...

Labour Markets

Ali Cheema Asim Ijaz Khwaja Muhammad Farooq Naseer Jacob Shapiro

Published

19.02.26