Resources from:
Randomised Control Trials

This is a presentation from EDI Seminar- it outlines the review of RA3 research done under our programme and additional takeaways.

Developing economies are characterized by limited compliance with government regulation, such as taxation. Resources for enforcement are scarce, but the increasing availability of digitized data and data processing technologies have the potential to improve the targeting of enforcement. Levering an…

We study judicial in-group bias in Indian criminal courts, collecting data on over 5 million criminal case records from 2010–2018. We exploit quasi-random assignment of cases to judges to examine whether defendant outcomes are affected by assignment to a judge…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) – adaptive computer programs that can perform functions typically associated with the human mind – offer new opportunities for improving the productivity of large-scale organizations. Recent advances in data collection, systems of aggregation,…

In a field experiment spanning the entirety of two Indian states, we randomized bureaucrats’ access to a mobile phone based e-management platform for India’s flagship workfare program. We randomized which levels of the administrative hierarchy received access to the app,…

We examine how trust shapes compliance with public health restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda. We use an endorsement experiment embedded in a mobile phone survey to show that messages from government officials generate more support for public health…

The EDI research programme has generated significant policy impacts, including changes to laws and national policies as a result of close engagement between researchers and government officials. This report by the Centre for Effective Global Action (CEGA) details the impact of our work throughout the globe.

Abstract: Bihar is widely regarded as one of India’s poorest and most divided states. It has also been the site of many social movements that have left indelible marks on the state’s politics and identity. Little is currently known about…

Abstract: International donors and governments require contracting mechanisms that provide accountability in order to mitigate leakage and corruption in public infrastructure projects, especially when construction is outsourced to private sector contractors. This is an important goal because low-income countries spend…

In early September, 2020, ten days before the deadline for revisions to this volume, Colombians participated in the biggest anti-police protests in decades. Like the protests that swept the United States just months earlier, they were sparked by the heinous…

Abstract: Property taxes are in theory easy to enforce in their simplest form due to their tangible tax base, and are considered an equitable means to raise revenue in low-income countries. In spite of these features, African countries, where cities…

Reducing crime and improving personal and communal security are crucial policy goals. The task of achieving these goals naturally falls first and foremost on a country’s police force.There is a widespread consensus that police forces are most effective in preventing…

In this paper, we study a large scale effort to improve the information environment in a key area of legal rights: women’s rights in marriage. The degree of freedom that women enjoy over key life choices such as whether, when…

On 1 May 2019, Mexico passed a new labour law. This was seen by many as the most substantial labour law reform in Mexico in a century. In the lead up to the law reform, EDI-funded research led by Assistant…

Value-added tax systems across the world are afflicted with size-dependent regulations.The benefit of such regulations to the tax authority is unclear. In this paper, we use an administrative dataset from the state of Delhi in India to first show that…

Abstract: Are ordinary citizens or political party leaders better positioned to select candidates?  While the American primary system lets citizens choose, most democracies rely instead on party officials to appoint or nominate candidates.  The consequences of these distinct design choices…

Countries where courts are weak, and rights are poorly enforced, tend to be countries with worse economic outcomes (Pande and Udry, 2006; Rodrik, 2000, 2005). To better understand the relationship between the functioning of judicial systems and economic growth, Dal…

Abstract: Does informing plaintiffs about expected case outcomes lead them to hire better quality lawyers? We conduct a randomized field experiment with the Mexico City Labor Court to provide statistical predictions and meetings with court conciliators to potential plaintiffs. Almost…

How can artificial intelligence help understand the decisions of judges to improve the quality of judiciary systems? Francois Bourguignon (Paris School of Economics, Research Director EDI) and Bilal Siddiqi (University of California, Berkeley) explain how randomised control trials can be…

This EDI Research Insight publishes early stage results from a study designed to explore questions about  representation, accountability and performance among government officials in Sierra Leone. As in many developing countries, in Sierra Leone the process of selecting candidates often…

Federico Finan, Associate Professor of Economics and Business at UC-Berkeley, introduces the EDI convening conference titled, “Sharing Strategies, Sharing Solutions: A Policy Institute for Innovations in Public Services.” The main goals of the event are to identify ways in which…

Charity Moore from the Harvard Kennedy School presents research from a project on “USing digital trails to improve management and accountability for public service delivery in India.” Service delivery in development settings in hierarchical in nature, which can lead to…

Kate Casey of Stanford University presents research to date from the project on “Politician entry, selection and performance in Sierra Leone.” How do political parties choose candidates who run in the general elections Political party have regional geographic strongholds, which…

Andrew Zeitlin from Georgetown University presents his research on the compositional consequences of performance pay in the education sector in Rwanda. H notes that in developing country education there is tremendous variation in teacher quality and internationally, these differences have…

Gianmarco León on pay-for-performance (P4P), which has been shown to be effective in job performance in both private and public organizations. The research examines how incentives affect performance when they are implemented across multiple layers of an organization – from…

Edward Miguel of the University of California at Berkeley presents research on “The political economy and governance of rural electrification in Kenya.” In the last few years it has become a major policy and foreign aid priority to enhance the…

Michael O’ Sullivan from the World Bank presents research on “Relaxing credit constraints and tenure insecurity in imperfect markets.” The project motivation arises from recognition that in the absence of well-functioning markets for land, credit and insurance, farming households are…

Kate Vyborny presents her research on a project that explores how women in Pakistan can get access to the rights that they legally have. She looks particularly at the legal rights that are understood and established around marriage contracts. This…

Eric Arias from William & Mary College presents research from his field experiment in Colombia on community policing and public trust. Arias begins with the motivation for this research, which is centred on the premise that citizens’ trust and cooperation…

Virginia Nelder, from the Kenya Law Reform Commission, presents her research on “Access to justice in Kenya’s magistrates’ courts: Judicial systems as public goods.” The project she presents aims to provide the research necessary to make evidence-based policy and legislative…

Bilal Siddiqi from the World Bank presents his research on “Using administrative data systems to improve court efficiency (India, Kenya, Tanzania)”. Questions reviewed through this research include: How do disputes get reported? How is the quality of adjudication affected by…

Joyce Sadka from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) presents her research on “Improving the Effectiveness of Labor Courts through Information and Conciliation” undertaken together with the courts in Mexico City. Sadka asks can informing plaintiffs and defendants about…

Shekhar Mittal, of the University of California at Berkeley, presents his research on the Value Added Tax (VAT) system in India. A key development concern is how to improve tax collections, which are central to building state capacity. Mittal examines…

Justine Knebelmann from the Paris School of Economics presents her research on a project undertaken in collaboration with the Senegalese tax administration. She reviews the motivations for research on the property tax regime, and examines how technological improvements in the…

Pierre Bachas from the World Bank presents on his EDI-funded research in Senegal on how to audit populations when there is limited government capacity. This presentation was part of a larger convening workshop for EDI, “Sharing Solutions, Sharing Strategies: A…

This video provides an overview of the importance of linking Randomised Control Trials to create learning opportunities and ensure policy relevance at all levels of the research.  In April 2016 EDI, in partnership with CEGA, organised a matchmaking workshop, which was…