In recent decades, the use of experimental and quasi-experimental methods has become widespread across a range of fields in economics, such as labor, education, health, and especially development.The emphasis on experimental and quasi-experimental methods was driven by an attempt to generate internally valid results, i.e., accurate estimates of the impact of the policy of interest in the time and place the experiment was implemented.

On October 29, IPA in collaboration with the Micro and Small Enterprises Authority (MSEA), a state corporation under the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Cooperatives held a one-day policy dialogue on MSME development in Kenya.The event aimed to bring together policymakers, researchers, and practitioners to discuss the key priorities, opportunities, and challenges facing the SME sector in the country. Recognizing that the SME sector may be a catalyst to advancing economic and social development, the Kenyan government has rolled out the Big Four Agenda, under which SME will play an important role as part of the manufacturing agenda.

On Tuesday, October 22, 2019, IPA hosted an interactive webinar aimed at researchers and practitioners in behavioral finance, as part of Financial Inclusion Week 2019.Researchers Jeremy Burke (USC) and Sean Higgins (Northwestern University) and IPA’s Michael Rosenbaum and Rebecca Rouse discussed findings and policy implications from two recent studies on prize-linked incentives in financial product design. An interactive Q&A session followed the discussion.Financial products that incorporate sweepstake entries as incentives for use (or prize-linked) are increasingly popular in both developed and developing economies.