MIT

GiveDirectly — Large-Scale Basic Income in Rural Kenya

GiveDirectly / Princeton / MIT / UC Berkeley · Siaya County, Kenya · 2016 · Basic Income

Effect: Consumption: +30% vs. baseline; assets: +40% in asset values; food security: significantly improved; psychological wellbeing: large positive effects on stress and happiness; hours worked: no reduction; local economic spillovers: significant — control villages within treated areas also showed consumption increases (~$2.50 for every $1 transferred, via multiplier effects)

M-Pesa Mobile Money and Poverty Reduction

MIT / IGC / Safaricom · Kenya · 2016 · Financial Services

Effect: M-Pesa access increased per capita consumption 2%; 2% of households lifted from extreme poverty; female-headed households: +22% consumption

Impact of Microcredit — Mexico

Compartamos Banco / MIT / Innovations for Poverty Action · Rural Mexico · 2015 · International Development

Effect: No significant effect on average household income or consumption; business investment increased for existing entrepreneurs; female-run businesses showed modest profit gains

GiveDirectly Unconditional Cash Transfers

GiveDirectly / MIT / Princeton · Western Kenya · 2011 · Cash Transfers

Effect: Assets: +58%; earnings: +38%; food security: +20%; psychological well-being significantly improved; no evidence of alcohol or tobacco spending increase; effects sustained 3 years later

Oregon Medicaid Lottery

Oregon Health Authority / MIT / Harvard · Oregon, USA · 2008 · Public Health

Effect: ER use: +40%; doctor visits: +35%; financial hardship: −25% (catastrophic medical bills); depression: −30%; blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol: no significant improvements at 2 years

Oregon Medicaid Lottery

Harvard University / MIT / NBER · Oregon, USA · 2008 · Public Health

Effect: Physical health: no significant effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, or diabetes management at 2 years. Mental health: significantly lower rate of positive depression screening (−9.2 pp). Financial security: significantly lower catastrophic medical expenses (−25%), lower medical debt, lower probability of borrowing money for medical care. Healthcare use: significantly higher (primary care, hospitalizations, prescriptions).

BRAC Graduation Programme

BRAC / MIT / multiple governments · Bangladesh (original); replicated in 10 countries · 2007 · International Development

Effect: Consumption: +5% (pooled); assets: +16%; food security: +9%; financial inclusion: +23%; psychological well-being: improved; effects significant in 5 of 6 countries at 3-year follow-up

Kenya Girls' Primary School Merit Scholarship Program

MIT Poverty Action Lab (Duflo, Dupas, Kremer) · Western Kenya · 2004 · International Development

Effect: Girls in treatment schools improved test scores by 19.5 percentile points at year-end; boys in treatment schools also improved significantly (12.5 percentile points), despite being ineligible for the scholarship — indicating positive peer spillovers

Kenya Insecticide-Treated Bednet Distribution

IPA / Harvard / MIT · Western Kenya · 2003 · International Development

Effect: Free distribution: 99% take-up; subsidized (10 cents): 75%; near-market price: 25%; usage among recipients did not differ significantly by price paid; no 'free makes you value it less' effect found

The Balsakhi Tutoring Program

MIT Poverty Action Lab (Banerjee, Cole, Duflo, Linden) · Vadodara and Mumbai, India · 2002 · International Development

Effect: 0.14 SD improvement in Vadodara after one year; 0.28 SD in Mumbai; effects persisted two years after the program ended even for students who had moved to other schools

Oregon Universal Vote by Mail

Oregon Secretary of State / Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project · Oregon, USA · 2000 · Voter Engagement

Effect: Turnout: +5 to +10 pp overall vs. comparable states; low-propensity voter turnout: +17 pp; elderly and disabled voter turnout: largest gains; no detectable increase in fraud rates

Primary School Deworming — Kenya

ICS / MIT Poverty Action Lab · Western Kenya · 1998 · International Development

Effect: School participation: +7.5 percentage points; cost per additional year of schooling: $3.50; long-run earnings for treated cohort: +14% at age 20