AEA RCT Registry currently lists 1443 studies with locations in 114 countries.
This research implements a randomized-controlled trial in 170 secondary schools in northern Tanzania. The research cross-randomizes the provision of math textbooks, educational videos, and scholarship programs.
Whether the observed association between aflatoxin exposure and stunting in children is causal, and how exposure to this toxin can be mitigated, are open questions. This study comprises a three-arm randomized controlled trial designed to answer both questions. Within 71 randomly selected maize-growing villages of Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties of Kenya, households that included a pregnant woman or child under 2 years of age were recruited. Villages were randomly assigned to, a post-harvest technology intervention group, an exposure reduction intervention group, or a comparison group. Within the post-harvest group, prices for an aflatoxin mitigation technology were randomly varied across households, as was the opportunity to receive a price incentive for safe stored maize. Primary outco...
Innovate UK started an Innovation Vouchers programme in 2012 to provide support SMEs for their innovation activities. The programme provides SMEs from all sectors financial support of up to £5000 (excluding VAT) for engaging the services of experts from academia, research and technology organisations or the private sector to pursue a certain innovative project within the firm. The programme was conducted in several rounds each year. The evaluation of the programme focuses on the three most recent rounds (Rounds 11-13). The Innovation Vouchers programme operates as a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT), which is designed to evaluate causal evidence on the impact and effectiveness of the programme. In particular, the project team aims to answer the following key questions: 1) Do bu...
The objectives of this intervention are to expand access to quality Early Childhood Education (ECE) for 3-5 year olds (through construction of facilities, provision of materials, training of staff), as well as to build the demand for Early Childhood Care and Development ECCD services among families from disadvantaged backgrounds. Parent education is used to maximize the impact of ECCD services on child cognitive and psychosocial development—with a focus on (primary) school readiness. The study aims to find out whether the provision of simple community preschools increases enrolment and retention rates in ECCD services. Particularly with an eye towards primary school readiness, effects on the cognitive and socio-emotional development of young children will be measured. Further, it will b...
While regular cash transfer programs can have a range of productive impacts (Alderman et al., 2013, Bastagli et al., 2016), international evidence suggests that additional interventions, addressing a wider range of constraints, can be combined with cash transfer programs to further improve households’ productivity and resilience (Banerjee et al, 2015). The World Bank, IPA and a team of researchers have partnered with governments implementing large-scale social protection programs in 6 West African countries (Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Chad, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal) to set-up a multi-country randomized control trial and test the effects of a set of productive accompanying measures layered on top of existing safety net programs. The effort is integrated into large-scale nation...
Almost 70 million people in Pakistan (35% of the population) do not have access to electricity, as they live in areas, mostly rural,not reached by the grid. Over 75 million (38%), while on-grid, receive low quality energy and experience outages for more than 12 hours per day (IFC 2015). In spite of the significant benefits of access to electricity, the long-run feasibility of grid expansion for the provision of quality electricity to remote areas is often a concern (Greenstone 2014). The development of market solutions to increase access and energy services in underprovided areas using renewables and alternative energy sources is essential to meet SDG 7, reduce poverty and promote growth. We collaborate with Eco Energy (EE), a for-profit company supplying sustainable and efficient so...
Financial market frictions and behavioral constraints leave many in developing countries struggling to save sufficient funds to purchase durable goods, make profitable investments, or smooth consumption across the year. Savings constraints prevent individuals from making basic investments such as upgrading their dwellings with iron sheet roofs, paying for school fees or having better food options during low income seasons. Barriers to saving may also have an important negative impact on individuals by depressing labor supply. If smaller income streams cannot be easily saved and aggregated to invest in goods and services that people value, this lowers the effective returns from working. Similarly, if funds cannot be easily transferred from high earning potential periods to low earnin...
As policymakers’ focus in developing countries shifts from school access to school quality, student assessment has come to the fore. Governments use assessment data not only to monitor educational progress, but to provide feedback aimed at improving teaching and learning. In this evaluation, we focus on the potential effects of formative assessment (FA), in which teachers use frequent assessments of their students to improve their teaching, and end-of-grade (EOG) summative assessments, which, like FAs, can be the basis for teachers and principals to adapt their teaching practices and curricula to better meet the needs of their students. We undertake a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in 180 schools in Honduras, complemented by qualitative analysis, to estimate the impacts of provid...
The objective of this project is to investigate factors associated with stated willingness to pay (WTP) among customers of two water utilities in Kenya for a sanitation surcharge to achieve safe sanitation in low income urban and peri-urban areas. We employ the double-bounded contingent valuation method to measure customer willingness to pay for improved sanitation services to nearby low-income communities. We vary the scenarios quasi-experimentally to study the effects of messaging and surcharge administration. We measure attitudes, demographic and housing characteristics in the survey to see how well they correlate with willingness to pay.
The Liberian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises sector experienced a significant decline in performance during the Ebola outbreak. Business closures or downsizing were very frequent over this period. Similarly, BRAC Liberia Microfinance registered a significant increase in missed repayment rates, particularly among borrowers of its Small Enterprise Program (SEP). By July 2016, 12% of SEP clients had missed at least one repayment, up from 7% in January 2014. Understanding the impact of interventions targeting MSMEs performance is thus important from a policy perspective. Improving management skills, and in particular customer care skills - that is, the ability to communicate effectively with customers, to be polite, helpful and welcoming, thus adopting a "customer first" mentality - see...