Can privatised healthcare add value? The Mexico diabetes experiment

Private care led to large savings for the public sector and improved health outcomes through more access to care, not necessarily better technology...

Fertility and polygyny in rural Burkina Faso

Women have a stronger preference for contraceptive vouchers than their spouses in monogamous households, but a weaker preference in polygynous ones...

Easing contracting frictions with machines: Evidence from India

Mechanisation standardises output and lowers supervision needs for hired labour, freeing owners’ families to engage in profitable off-farm activities...

The downside of raising aspirations for poor entrepreneurs: Evidence from the Philippines

Encouraging the poor to set higher savings aspirations may backfire if they fall short of these goals, leading to less economic investment...

Mass media meets motherhood: Increasing contraception uptake in Burkina Faso

A high-quality intensive family planning radio campaign increased contraception uptake by 20%...

Training policymakers in econometrics: Evidence from Pakistan

Training deputy ministers in the school of thought associated with the credibility revolution increases demand for and responsiveness to causal evidence...

Incentivising quality of public infrastructure excludes users and worsens public health

A study of community toilets in India shows importance of fully subsidising basic services and of measures to prevent overcrowding and degradation...

Improving state effectiveness through bureaucrat assignment: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

Optimising the assignment of tax collectors significantly increases tax revenue and compliance at little or no added cost...

Specialised hiring and entrepreneurial success: Evidence from Nigeria

Subsidising entrepreneurs to hire a marketing or accounting specialist can be more effective than trying to train the entrepreneur in these skills...