Center for Effective Global Action

October 2014 - Impact Note

IMPACT

CEGA Affiliate Presents Community Cellular Network Innovation to USAID

CEGA affiliate Eric Brewer met with USAID technical staff in October to discuss the Community Cellular Network, a low-power, lower cost cell tower alternative bringing mobile communications to remote, off-grid communities. The system's transactions data are being analyzed to improve design of services, including mobile money and social networking platforms.

How Remote Sensing Can Improve M&E

CEGA presented at a conference in Washington, DC on the use of new measurement technologies to facilitate data collection for policy evaluations. The Center is funding several projects using remote sensing tools (such as environmental sensors and satellite imagery) to improve the accuracy, timeliness, and reliability of data from development projects.

UPCOMING

Conference on Behavioral Health Economics

CEGA will host a conference on behavioral health economics on November 14, 2014, at UC Berkeley. The event will feature a keynote address from Anna Fruttero, author of the 2015 World Development Report, Mind and Society. Register today!

2014 Research Transparency Forum

The Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS) will be hosting its 3rd annual Research Transparency Forum on December 11 - 12, 2014. The event will include a public conference, research seminar, and training. Confirmed speakers include John Ioannidis (Stanford) and Victoria Stodden (University of Illinois). Learn more and register here.

EVIDENCE

Effect of Sanitation Campaigns on Defecation Behaviors and Child Health

Open defecation and lack of quality sanitation has been linked to increased child mortality. A recent study by CEGA affiliate Jack Colford and Scientific Director Paul Gertler, along with co-authors Sumeet Patil and Ben Arnold, measures the effects of the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) in Madhya Pradesh, India. The TSC was designed to increase household access to improved latrines, open defecation behaviors, and child health. The study finds that TSC, which sought to change social norms and provided technical and financial support, had modest effects. The percentage of households with improved sanitation increased by 19 percent and open defecation decreased by 10 percent, however, there were no effects on child health. The results highlight the difficulty sanitation programs face in improving health and the need for continued research and investment in this area.

A Randomized Controlled Trial for Smoking Cessation in Thailand

A disproportionate portion of tobacco-related mortality occurs in the developing world. In Thailand, 45.6 percent of adult men still smoke, despite the existence of strongly enforced smoking laws that prohibit smoking in public places and regulate tobacco promotion. In Nakhon Nayok province, CEGA affiliate William Dow and Justin White designed and conducted a randomized experiment to measure the impact of monetary and social incentives on smoking in rural communities. They find that a mix of smoking cessation counselling plus commitment contracts and team incentives increased abstinence by 91 to 136 percent. This intervention may offer a viable, cost-effective alternative for low-resource settings.

NEWS

CEGA Affiliates Win American Economic Journal (AEJ) Best Paper

Two CEGA Affiliates have been recognized for a 2014 American Economic Journal Best Paper. Pascaline Dupas' paper, "Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," uses a randomized experiment to test what information changes teenagers' sexual behavior. Paul Niehaus' paper, "Corruption Dynamics: The Golden Goose Effect," examines the impact of an increase in the minimum daily wage on rent seeking.

BITSS is now on Twitter

The Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS) has launched a twitter feed @ucbitss to inform the academic community of the latest tools, research findings and initiatives related to research transparency.

New Field of Development Engineering at UC Berkeley

In a new paper, CEGA Executive Director Temina Madon and co-authors make the case for a new field, Development Engineering that integrates engineering with insights from development economics. A new training program in this area is being launched at UC Berkeley, with support from CEGA.

East Africa Social Science Translation (EASST) Launches New Blog

CEGA's EASST Collaborative has launched a new blog which will feature ideas from development researchers, academics, practitioners, and policymakers in East Africa.

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