Center for Effective Global Action

December 2014 - Impact Note

IMPACT

CEGA Faculty Director Ted Miguel

Research Transparency Forum

The Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS) held its third annual meeting on December 11-12. Participating researchers discussed new ways to foster openness, integrity, and reproducibility in the social sciences, including summer courses and a manual of best practices. Videos of the conference are available on the event page.

Remote Sensing Solutions for Development Research

Balloon-borne sensors in India

CEGA's "Be havio ra l Sensing" program sponsored a workshop in December on new technologies for measuring poverty alleviation and economic growth in developing countries. Examples include satellite imagery to monitor illegal mining, balloon-borne sensors to measure black carbon emissions, and a mobile phone app to elicit estimates of the poor's

valuation of time. CEGA is now supporting the adoption of these and other measurement advances by NGOs, the World Bank, USAID, and other partners.

UPCOMING

WGAPE at the University of Washington

Now in its 12th year, the Working Group in African Political Economy (WGAPE) will host its next regional meeting at the University of Washington from January 9-10, 2015. Seven papers have been selected for discussion on topics ranging from the effects of decentralization on public goods provision, to attitudes regarding the proposed federation of East African states.

EVIDENCE

Impact Evaluation of BRAC's Targeting the Ultra-Poor Program in South Sudan

BRAC has im

plemented a "Targeting the Ultra-Poor" program in Bangladesh which provided livestock and training to the poorest households, and had some success in increasing household welfare. Now, BRAC seeks to identify the lowest-cost method for implementing a similar program in South Sudan. Researchers, led by CEGA affiliate Ethan Ligon, will use a randomized evaluation to assess which components of a "targeting the ultra-poor" program are required to have impact greater than the value of an equivalent cash transfer.

NEWS

David Lobell courtesy of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Forbes on Lobell: Data Scientist Revolutionizing Agriculture

CEGA affiliate David Lobell was mentioned in this Forbes

article highlighting his work revolutionizing agriculture.

FiveThirtyEight Highlights Work on Pollution and School Outcomes

Research on the effects of exposure to air pollution in utero by affiliates Prashant Bharadwaj and Joshua Graff Zivin along with Matthew Gibson and Christopher A. Neilson was featured in this article on FiveThirtyEight.

OPPORTUNITIES

CEGA-EASST Research and Funding Opportunities

The East Africa Social Science Translation (EASST) Collaborative announces new funding opportunities for East African researchers: the 2015-16 EASST Visiting Fellowship and Evaluation Design Contest. Visit the EASST website for details.

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