This study examines whether receiving anticipatory cash transfers during an extreme winter affects households’ demand for index-based livestock insurance. We exploit a randomized field experiment conducted during the 2020/21 winter disaster in western Mongolia and combine household panel...

Hosting mega-sports events generates optimistic projections of economic benefits, yet empirical evidence on actual local returns remains mixed. Focusing on the UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany, this paper provides causal evidence on the short-term local consumption effects of hosting mega-events. We...

As sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility gained increasing importance in agriculture, several impact assessment methodologies have been proposed. Social Return on Investment (SROI), a methodology used for understanding, measuring, and reporting the social, economic, and...

This paper evaluates the long-term impact of rehabilitated irrigation canals under Argentinas PROSAP III program on vineyard productivity in San Juan province. We combine 20 years of Landsat-derived NDVI data with survey data from 299 grape producers and apply a synthetic...

This paper evaluates the impact of the Café Lumière project launched by the NGO Électriciens sans frontières to address the lack of reliable electricity access in rural Madagascar. The project integrates solar-powered micro-grids and energy platforms to provide affordable electricity and...

In advanced economies, increasing population diversity often fuels hostile attitudes toward immigrants and political polarization. We study a short educational program for high-school students aimed at promoting cultural diversity and improving attitudes toward immigration through active...

Innovations in big data and algorithms are enabling new approaches to target interventions at scale. We compare the accuracy of three different systems for identifying the poor to receive benefit transfers - proxy means-testing, nominations from community members, and an algorithmic approach...

At the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in the Philippines in April 2020, the Asian Development Bank, in partnership with the Philippine government and the private sector, implemented the Bayan Bayanihan (BB) food relief program which served approximately 162,000 households...

The Philippines demonstrates a puzzling disconnect between economic growth and distributional outcomes as decades of expansion have failed to deliver significant changes in poverty and income inequality. A frequently discussed strategy for inclusive growth is strategic investment in...

We investigate the impact of a large new public hospital on directly observed waiting times in emergency departments of other public hospitals in Nicaragua. Using a difference-indifferences design, we estimate a significant decrease in waiting time by 42% or 10.1 minutes in nearby hospitals...

We use a randomized controlled trial to examine the short- and mid-term impacts of a best-practice training program on (non-)employment outcomes in Ghana. Overall the program did not affect core labor market outcomes at the extensive (employment) and intensive (hours of work, income) margin, but...

Unemployment presents a significant challenge requiring attention not only in developing countries but also in economically developed ones. Active labour market policies offer a potential solution to address this issue. This study focuses on assessing the impact of the intervention called...

Many policy interventions in the environmental sector aim at changing environmental preferences, because these provide the basis for adopting environmental conservation behavior or technologies. To evaluate these changes, standard measurement tools in survey-based impact evaluations have their...

Anticipatory humanitarian assistance is a novel approach to aid in the context of weather disasters, drawing on meteorological forecasts. Using a randomized study design, we analyze the impact of anticipatory cash transfers distributed to pastoralist households in Mongolia during an extreme...

The construction of the Suramadu bridge, the longest bridge in Indonesia connecting the islands of Java and Madura, aimed to stimulate regional economic growth in Madura and reduce disparity. However, 13 years after the construction, significant economic progress in Madura has yet to be seen....

The aim of this research was to evaluate the impact of the financial aid programme at a private university in Venezuela on the outcome variables of post-graduation or social mobility, such as remuneration at the time of graduation and at present, and the probability of entering the labour...

How does the proximity to a metro station affect urban development in Latin America? While the literature assessing the causal impacts of transportation infrastructure has grown in recent years, only a few papers have focused on the effects of metro systems in Latin America and the Caribbean...

Research and development (R&D) is a central driver of long-term economic growth, technological progress, and institutional capacity. Yet many African countries remain marginal in the global knowledge economy, with limited investment in science, technology, and innovation (STI) and weak research...

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) leads to higher electricity prices and thus higher costs for electricity-intensive industries in the EU, reducing their competitiveness compared to those in non-EU countries. This disparity may result in carbon leakage, where production shifts abroad,...

The financial environment is under great pressure as a result of dynamically changing macroeconomic factors. In this situation, full of uncertainty, understanding the relationship between macroeconomic factors and financial markets becomes a key issue. Market analysts and investors are...

Start-ups are an important component of driving context-sensitive sustainable development in emerging markets based on domestic innovation. However, knowledge on how best to support the capabilities, networks and access to finance of such ventures is limited, specifically in emerging markets. In...

This paper estimates the causal impact of Brexit on migrant employment in the United Kingdom using a synthetic difference-in-differences (SDID) framework. We construct a counterfactual trajectory for the UK based on a weighted combination of comparable European economies and compare...

We study the relative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and interaction of family- and schoolbased learning interventions using a randomized controlled trial in Colombia that assigns children to a parental engagement program, a teacher professional development program, both, or a control group....

We provide experimental evidence on how fiscal news shapes households' expectations and spending behavior. Using a new survey of ~11,000 Korean individuals linked to automatically collected high-frequency spending data, we elicit respondents' fiscal and macroeconomic beliefs and randomly provide...

Moderne Breitbandnetze sind eine zentrale Voraussetzung für die digitale Transformation von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Die vorliegende EcoAustria Policy Note analysiert auf Basis mehrjähriger Forschungsarbeiten und einer Evaluierung der Programme BBA2020 und BBA2030 die volkswirtschaftlichen...

Since 2018, tariffs have re-emerged as a tool for protecting domestic economies, particularly in the US. This paper examines the macroeconomic and welfare effects of various import tariff scenarios using a four-region dynamic general equilibrium model with a multi-sectoral production network....

Many countries use job-retention schemes, such as short-time work (STW), to stabilize the labor market during economic downturns. While these schemes might prevent unemployment (UE) and its adverse effects on workers, STW could also deter workers from moving to more productive firms, thereby...