|
|
Credit: rawpixel
|
|
Something Bigger Than Ourselves
January is often a time for optimism. Reflecting on the gains and losses of the last few years, Executive Director Carson Christiano’s new letter introduces three priorities for 2023 based on how CEGA can contribute to the global fight against poverty. Taken together, these concrete steps represent our analysis of key gaps in the current landscape—and how we might close them. From investments in new research on conflict and gender to an expanded focus on data science and greater inclusion of low- and middle-income people and perspectives in global development research, we believe these approaches will improve lives. Together with our colleagues in the evidence-informed policy movement, CEGA is optimistic that we can accelerate progress toward a more equitable and sustainable world in 2023. Read Carson’s letter.
|
|
General Equilibrium Effects of Agricultural Policy
Edward Miguel and coauthors introduce a new method of quantifying the effects of agricultural programs by studying the impact of an intervention that combined subsidies for agricultural technology with experimental results. This combined approach sheds light on the general equilibrium effects of agricultural policies.
|
Rod Waddington
|
|
Considering Carbon over Crops
Planting cover crops to store carbon in soil has been a popular and subsidized approach to climate change mitigation. David Lobell explains new research that indicates cover crops may decrease yields of cash crops and lead farmers to plow additional land to increase yields.
|
Edwin Remsberg
|
|
Advancing Policy & Research in West Africa
Kim Yi Dionne interviews Emmanuel Balogun about the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a new peacekeeping body in West Africa. With subject matter experts from across the region, ECOWAS can expand opportunities for policy-relevant research with West African countries.
|
ECOWAS
|
|
Comparing TB Regimens
In 2017, the WHO conditionally recommended a 6-month retreatment regimen for pulmonary TB, straying from its previous 8-month recommendation for patients previously treated. With support from CEGA, 2021 CEGA Fellow Jonathan Izudi and coauthors find that the 6-month regimen significantly increased treatment success rates.
|
Uganda Amref
|
|
Greater Sanitation, Greater Growth
Paul Gertler, Manisha Shah, and coauthors analyze the impact of sanitation programs on child health in India, Indonesia, Mali, and Tanzania, finding decreased open defecation through private sanitation facilities increases child height.
|
UNICEF Ethiopia
|
|
Incentivizing HIV Treatment
2018 CEGA Fellow Samuel Muhula and coauthors test whether providing HIV patients with non-cash incentives and psychosocial treatments boost early treatment retention rates, finding such incentives fail to curb attrition, especially for divorced and single patients.
|
rawpixel
|
|
Working Papers
- Claire Adida and coauthors introduce a social-identity based intervention that is more successful than digital literacy programs at reducing misinformation.
- Joshua Blumenstock and coauthors use mobile phone activity to measure religious adherence in Afghanistan, finding religiosity increases as climate change affects local economies.
- Kelsey Jack and coauthors find that advanced cash transfers for reducing crop residue burning in Punjab are more successful at increasing compliance than payments made upon verification.
- Ajay Shenoy and Laura Zimmermann track political organization in West Bengal, finding state governments reward local officials who raise votes for co-partisan national candidates.
|
|
- Carson Christiano reflects on the progress made by the evidence-informed policy movement and outlines three ways that CEGA will contribute to global development goals in 2023.
- Amy Shipow interviews Daniel Posner and Edward Miguel about the evolution of the Working Group in African Political Economy, which convenes faculty and graduate students who combine field research experience in Africa with training in political economy methods.
- Brian Lee announces a new grant awarded to the Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences from the National Institute on Aging to invest in open science and transparency efforts across the social sciences.
|
|
Visit CEGA's event page or our YouTube channel to watch videos of past events. Videos are typically posted within one week of the event date.
|
|
flickr
|
BITSS Annual Meeting: March 3
The BITSS Annual Meeting brings together actors from academia, scholarly publishing, and policy to share novel research and discuss efforts to improve the credibility of social science by advancing research transparency, reproducibility, rigor, and ethics. For more information and to submit a paper, see the event page.
|
|
rawpixel
|
PacDev 2023: March 18
The Pacific Conference for Development Economics (PacDev) convenes researchers and practitioners to discuss work that enhances our understanding of economic development, advances theoretical and empirical methods, and improves development interventions and policy. For more information and to submit a paper, see the event page.
|
|
Magalie L'Abbe
|
Psychology and Economics of Poverty Annual Convening: April 14
A growing body of research is revealing new insights into the psychological consequences of poverty and its impacts on social and economic development. CEGA will bring researchers, implementing partners, and policymakers together to share original work in this space. For more information and to submit a paper, see the event page. |
|
flickr
|
Open Research Seminar: Spring 2023
The CEGA-managed Berkeley Initiative for Transparency in the Social Sciences (BITSS) will host a webinar series to promote the use of tools for transparency and reproducibility in social science research. For more information and to submit a proposal, see the event page.
|
|
Leonardo Viotti
|
Measuring Development 2023: May 4
The ninth annual Measuring Development conference (MeasureDev), Innovations in Measurement to Mitigate the Risks and Impacts of Climate Change, will convene researchers at the frontiers of physical and social sciences and decision-makers who influence global responses to the challenges of climate change. For more information and to submit a paper, see the event page.
|
|
Hiring: Predoctoral Fellows, Transparency
CEGA seeks two predoctoral fellows to evaluate the impact of reporting guidelines and resource incentives on reporting practices and publication outcomes of pre-registered research projects with the aim of improving the transparency and reproducibility of social science research. To apply, see the listing.
|
|
Hiring: Intern, Cost Transparency Initiative
CEGA seeks an intern to support a meta-evaluation of open-innovation prize competitions that have been completed over the past 5-10 years. Among other responsibilities, this role will include assembling a quantitative data set on open-innovation prizes and their outcomes. To apply, see the listing.
|
|
About CEGA
Research. Inspire. Change.
The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) is a hub for research, training, and innovation headquartered at the University of California, Berkeley. We generate insights that leaders can use to improve policies, programs, and people’s lives. Our academic network includes more than 150 faculty, 65 scholars from low- and middle-income countries, and hundreds of graduate students–from across academic disciplines and across the globe–that produce rigorous evidence about what works to expand education, health, and economic opportunities for people living in poverty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
