We present evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Uganda where married women were randomly provided unconditional cash transfers. Among treated women, we randomized the modality of payment (in cash or mobile money) and whether the beneficiary’s spouse was informed about the transfer or not. We find that using mobile money for cash transfers is more effective in improving women’s economic independence and decision-making power. In particular, women in the mobile money treatments have higher individual labor income and more of a say in household decisions. On the other hand, cash-based transfers are more effective in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV), especially when both partners are informed. This highlights a trade-off between improving the effectiveness of cash transfers on women’s economic empowerment versus reducing IPV. While providing cash transfers digitally is more effective in improving women’s control over resources, this may lower their effectiveness in addressing IPV.

Digital transparency programs increasingly make government performance information publicly available, but their ability to engage citizens depends on whether information reaches them and changes what they believe about government performance. We study what happens when such information is brought directly to citizens. In a randomized experiment with 2,107 adults in an Indian district targeted by a major transparency initiative, over 90% were unaware of the initiative and 75% overestimated their district’s performance. A low-cost, scalable video informing citizens about the initiative, revealing their district’s declining performance relative to neighboring districts, and highlighting formal grievance channels increased petition signing by 5 pp and attendance at complaint-filing workshops by 8.4 pp.  Citizens who initially overestimated their district’s rank corrected their beliefs and increased participation, while those who had not overestimated prior to treatment showed no response. Beliefs about citizens’ influence over service delivery remained unchanged. One month later, beliefs about the district’s rank converged, yet citizens in the intervention group–particularly those who initially overestimated their district’s rank–continued to report higher civic participation. We develop a model showing how perceived performance gaps motivate accountability conditional on beliefs about citizens’ influence over government.

In a randomised cash transfer programme in rural Tanzania, mothers assigned as recipients could receive funds via mobile money or nominate another person to receive the transfers on their behalf. We show that women with limited digital access are substantially more likely to nominate others to receive a transfer and thus are less likely to directly receive the transfers intended for them. Among those who nominate others to receive transfers, women with lower autonomy in the household are more likely to nominate their spouse. Because intermediaries can either return the cash or gain control over how it is spent, these nomination patterns can shift effective control away from the targeted women. Thus, the women most in need of empowerment may be the least likely to receive and benefit from transfers. These findings highlight a key challenge for targeted transfer policies: without addressing underlying digital and intra-household constraints, programmes may fail to reach and empower the intended beneficiaries. 

Parenting interventions in low- and middle-income countries rely on intensive training and close supervision of Community Health Workers (CHWs), making them challenging to scale. Moreover, digital cash transfers ease financial constraints but are insufficient to shift parenting behaviors. It remains unclear how to cost-effectively combine these approaches to support holistic Early Childhood Development (ECD) outcomes. We conducted a large-scale RCT in Dodoma, Tanzania, to evaluate the relative effectiveness of three ECD intervention packages delivered during the child’s first 1,000 days:(i) a parenting program delivered by CHWs supported by a digital app; (ii) an unconditional digital cash transfer (UCT) program via mobile money; and (iii) a combination of both. We find that after 15 months, parenting support improves home stimulation, parental involvement, and children’s socio-emotional development, with effects magnified when paired with digital cash transfers. Digital cash alone improves caregiver mental well-being, household expenditures, and child growth.

Public service delivery in low- and middle-income countries is often constrained by weak state capacity and limited accountability. We evaluate India’s Aspirational Districts Programme—one of the world’s largest policy- monitoring initiatives—which publicly tracks and posts performance data for 112 most underperforming districts to accelerate development. Leveraging administrative data from 6000 Right to Information Requests, national health and education surveys and satellite data, we estimate the program’s impact on public service delivery, public financial management, and bureaucratic transfers. Our findings will reveal whether transparency through improved information systems can enhance governance outcomes and close persistent development gaps across poorest regions.