RECOVR Research Projects

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This page lists research projects that are being developed by IPA and others. Our goal is to document active studies taking place on COVID-19’s socio-economic impacts—and results, as they come in—in order to inform researchers and decision-makers working to mitigate the crisis. As this is a public good, the hub contains both IPA and non-IPA studies. Inclusion criteria for the hub can be found here, and new projects and questionnaires can be submitted here.

Contributing Partners

60 Decibels
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
BRAC Institute of Governance & Development
Center for Effective Global Action
Center for Global Development
Global Poverty Research Lab
IDinsight
International Growth Centre
Yale Research Initiative on Innovative & Scale

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The Other Virus: How Gangs and Organized Crime are Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

<p>In the sprawling informal peripheries of cities throughout the developing world, enhancing state capacity may be critical for an effective COVID response, and hence to macro-level public-health, economic, and political outcomes.In Medellín, Colombia, most neighborhoods are occupied by one of roughly 400 criminal gangs.The researchers&nbsp;have a three-year&nbsp;ongoing study in the city dedicated to understanding and reshaping state and gang rule.This includes in-depth interviews, representative surveys, and a concluded RCT in 80 sectors where they&nbsp;exogenously increased the presence and legitimacy of “street-level bureaucrats” in 40 sectors.</p>
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Country Colombia
Type

Qualitative Research

Consumer Protection Survey of Digital Finance Users in Kenya

<p>According to the 2019 FinAccess survey, 8.4 percent of mobile money users in Kenya report having lost funds on their mobile money accounts—and 70 percent&nbsp;of these cases were due to third-party phone or SMS fraud.Yet no one has unpacked why certain consumers suffer from fraud, nor why they often don’t use formal complaints channels when they suffer loss of funds or fraud.Similarly, FinAccess found that 42 percent&nbsp;of mobile money users could not correctly interpret the price disclosure screen, and 19 percent&nbsp;of digital borrowers&nbsp; report issues with transparency of fees.</p>
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Country Kenya
Program Area Financial Inclusion
Type

Other

Communication to Promote Healthy Behaviors in Urban Slums in Kenya During COVID-19

<p>Sub-Saharan Africa contains many densely overcrowded and poor urban slums at high risk of COVID-19 outbreaks.In these contexts, sanitation and social distancing measures are near impossible, and COVID-19’s rapid spread is a devastating prospect.To control the pandemic’s spread, the Kenyan Ministry of Health COVID-19 Taskforce has implemented initial prevention and mitigation measures.To inform the Taskforce strategy, this study will deploy rapid phone-based surveys every two weeks on knowledge, attitudes and practices to approximately 7,500 heads of household sampled from existing randomized evaluation cohorts across five urban slums in Nairobi.</p>
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Country Kenya
Type

Randomized Evaluation