Photo: World Bank / Ousmane Traore
Giving People Cash During COVID: A Look at What We're Working On
September 09, 2020

Photo: World Bank / Ousmane Traore

By June 2020, 277 cash transfers programs in 131 countries have been introduced in response to COVID-19. This figure includes 98 existing programs which were scaled up, and 179 completely new initiatives.1 As countries turn to cash transfer programs as a way to quickly provide economic relief to households affected by COVID-19, digital cash transfers—for example, via direct deposits to bank accounts or mobile money transfers—have gained importance as an efficient and safe way to disburse funds at scale.

However,...
Food security
How Ghanaians are Coping With COVID-19: Five Lessons from the RECOVR Survey
July 10, 2020

By Charles Amoatey, Elliott Collins, and Madeleen Husselman

In March, Ghana, like much of the world, adopted social distancing measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. Measures included the closings of schools and universities, suspension of gatherings of over 25 people, and partial lockdowns in major urban areas. 

So far, like most West African countries, Ghana has avoided the worst of the virus’s health toll. However, in low- and middle-income countries like Ghana, the pandemic’s socio-economic consequences may exceed the immediate health ones and even cost more lives....
In Foreign Policy, Mushfiq Mobarak Warns of More Food Insecurity as Lean Season Approaches
Media Coverage
June 29, 2020

In an op-ed for Foreign Policy, researcher Mushfiq Mobarak discusses the implications of COVID-19 lockdowns for regions in which households commonly use seasonal migration to weather agricultural lean seasons. The article references findings from prior research with IPA on seasonal migration in Bangladesh.  
Cash Transfers and Mobile Money in Project Syndicate
Media Coverage
June 29, 2020

In Project Syndicate, IPA founder Dean Karlan, Director of Sector Programs Nathanael Goldberg, and J-PAL's Alison Fahey discuss the promising evidence for cash transfers and mobile money as tools to reach vulnerable populations, and the need for policy and ongoing research that builds on this evidence. 
MedGlobal volunteer in Colombia
Co-creating During a Crisis
June 17, 2020

“The government expects a presentation of the findings in nine days,” we heard over a video call from one of our in-country staff members in Mexico City. He was referring to the results of the RECOVR (Research for Effective COVID-19 Response) survey, an effort we started in April in order to put IPA’s expertise at policymakers’ disposal to support them in their pandemic response.

That moment struck us, as the urgency that was coming from our government partner is one we don’t usually hear. This was likely both the result of working on COVID-19 response, at a time in which...
IPA Côte d'Ivoire signs MoU with DGE
Policy-Relevant Rigor: What Governments Need From Researchers for Effective Crisis Response
June 11, 2020

How do we ensure that people who already live hand to mouth aren’t starving during lockdown? Should we even lock down? Should we reopen businesses—and how? How do we do distance learning well? Are cash transfers helping people stay home? Who needs cash transfers the most? 

The policy-relevant research questions are innumerable, and the need for policy-relevant rigor has perhaps never been greater. But with over 23,000 scientific papers on COVID-19 coming out since January, we have to ask ourselves: is the research supply actually meeting the demand?  

IPA is building on...
IPA Evaluation of Uganda Secondary Education Skills Program in Brookings Blog
Media Coverage
March 17, 2020

Boris Bulayev, Meghan Mahoney, and Hannah Ornas of Uganda's Educate! program, which trains secondary school students in entrepreneurship and a range of soft-skills, write on the Brookings Institution's blog about their evaluation with IPA. The study found that female Educate! graduates were more likely to continue their education and to wait longer to start a family.
Abhijit Banerjee in Medium on IPA Study of Graduation Model
Media Coverage
January 13, 2020

On Tyler Cowen's podcast, Abhijit Banerjee mentions his work with Esther Duflo, Dean Karlan, and others on a multi-country evaluation of the Ultra-Poor Graduation model. Banerjee also discusses his broader experience with randomized control trials (RCTs).
Vox Covers IPA Study of GiveDirectly's Cash Grant Program
Media Coverage
December 16, 2019

Vox's Future Perfect reflects on the potential benefits of unconditional cash transfers with the new results of an IPA evaluation of the effects of GiveDirectly's distribution of cash in rural Kenya on the area's broader economy.
NPR on an IPA Evaluation of GiveDirectly in Kenya
Media Coverage
December 16, 2019

NPR's Morning Edition covers the broader impact of cash grant programs, focusing on an IPA study of GiveDirectly's work. Researcher Ted Miguel explains how distributing cash to households in rural Kenya raised total economic activity in the area.
Washington Post on an IPA Study of GiveDirectly Cash Transfers
Media Coverage
December 16, 2019

An op-ed in the Washington Post discusses the potential for unconditional cash transfers, referring to an IPA study of GiveDirectly's cash grant program, explaining how the program not only benefitted recipients but the larger community as a whole.
L'Economiste du Faso Recaps Training Event on Youth Program Evaluation
Media Coverage
November 25, 2019

L'Economiste du Faso covers an IPA co-hosted training on the evaluation of youth employment programs in the Sahel. IPA co-organized the training with the International Labour Organization (ILO), Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD), and Luxembourg Aid and Development from November 18-19 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
The Economist Features Results of IPA Study on GiveDirectly's Cash Grant Program in Kenya
Media Coverage
November 22, 2019

The Economist writes on the broader impact of cash transfers, citing an IPA study of GiveDirectly's program in rural Kenya where unconditional cash grants raised consumption—both for the households who received them and their neighbors— and also raised wages and local GDP.
Peru's Diario Correo Covers Nobel Winners' Research on Ultra-Poor Graduation Model
Media Coverage
October 28, 2019

Diario Correo writes on Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo—winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics along with Michael Kremer— and their connection to a six-country evaluation of the Ultra-Poor Graduation model that included work in Peru. 
The Washington Post on the Impact of Cash Transfers
Media Coverage
August 26, 2019

"If tomorrow a drug was developed that transformed the lives of the world’s extreme poor as efficiently as direct cash transfers, it would be considered a revolution in the world of aid." 

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Francisco Toro writes on the impact of direct cash transfers compared to other poverty reduction tools. He cites IPA's evaluation of GiveDirectly's work in Kenya, as well as our work reviewing a range of interventions.

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