We study psychological impediments that make it difficult to change behaviour. In particular, we evaluate the impact of a randomised psychological intervention designed to target locus of control--an individual’s belief in their own ability to influence their outcomes -- on the adoption of...

This paper examines the effectiveness of leaders in addressing coordination failure in societies with ethnic or religious diversity. We experimentally vary leader identity in a coordination game and implement it in the field across 44 towns in India. We find that religious minority leaders...

Public spending on gender equality and women's empowerment is rising rapidly in many countries. However, the unintended consequences of women's empowerment is rarely measured and remains poorly understood. We study the impact of female empowerment programs on male backlash through a series of...