Research at GiveDirectly
We use rigorous experimental research (randomized controlled trials) to measure our impact and answer public policy questions.
Experimental evaluations
Rigorous, experimental evaluation is rare among nonprofits. GiveDirectly collaborates with a wide range of leading independent researchers to measure the impacts of cash transfers and answer complex design questions through more than a dozen randomized controlled trials. We report the results of our evaluations and also announce studies in progress before the data are in, so that we can be held accountable for the results. We also run smaller, non-experimental tests to learn more about what works best and how different types of recipients spend funds they receive.
Published randomized controlled trial studies
The impact of unconditional cash transfers on poor households in rural Kenya
Researchers: Johannes Haushofer (Princeton) and Jeremy Shapiro (Princeton) with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action
Location: Siaya County, Kenya
Overview: The study documented large, positive impacts of cash transfers averaging ~$500 across a wide range of outcomes including assets, earnings, food security, psychological well-being, and domestic violence, an average four months after transfers ended. It also examined a number of design questions such as how to size transfers and whether to give them to men or women. A second endline survey >2 years after the end of transfers found “cash transfers result in sustained increases in assets. Long-term impacts on other dimensions, and potential spillover effects, remain to be substantiated by future work.” Read more here.
Registration: AEA registry entry
Status: Peer-reviewed paper (Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2016); working papers published on psychological well-being for non-recipients (2019), domestic violence (2019) nutrition poverty traps (2019), and second endline survey findings (2018)
Media and blogs: First endline: NPR, The Economist, Forbes, Foreign Affairs, Fast Company; Psychological wellbeing for non-recipients: Vox; Second endline: GiveDirectly, study authors, Berk Ozler, Justin Sandefur; Domestic violence: Fast Company
Benchmarking a traditional nutrition and WASH program to cash
Researchers: Craig McIntosh (UCSD), Andrew Zeitlin (Georgetown) with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action
Location: Kayonza and Nyabihu districts, Rwanda
Overview: The study explored the cost-effectiveness (impact per dollar) of unconditional cash transfers and of Gikuriro, an integrated nutrition program. It found that neither the traditional program nor cost-equivalent cash transfers of ~$110 affected the study’s primary outcomes, but a larger cash transfer of ~$532 improved consumption, dietary diversity, and childhood growth 12 months after the baseline survey. For secondary outcomes studied, the smaller cash transfer program decreased debt and increased assets, while the nutrition program increased savings.
Registration: AEA registry entry
Status: Working paper and IPA policy brief published in 2018
Media and blogs: Washington Post, New York Times, Vox, Quartz, NPR, Wired, Center for Global Development, GiveDirectly, study authors, Berk Ozler, Jason Kerwin, Non-Profit Chronicles, Chicago Policy Review, Lee Crawfurd
Transfers to coffee-farming communities
Researchers: IDinsight and GiveDirectly
Location: Iganga district, Uganda
Overview: The study evaluated the impact of $1,000 cash transfers to Ugandan communities where coffee-farming is common. It found that consumption, assets, food security, and earnings all increased for both coffee farmers and households that don’t produce coffee. Coffee farmers increased their investment in coffee farming, as well as in other livelihoods.
Study registration: RIDIE registry entry
Status: Study report published in 2019
Media and blogs: GiveDirectly
Using cash transfers to benchmark the cost-effectiveness of a youth workforce readiness program
Researchers: Craig Mcintosh (UCSD), Andrew Zeitlin (Georgetown), with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action
Overview: This study benchmarked the impact of a youth employment education intervention to cash transfers in the Rwandan context. It found that both programs increased productive hours, assets, savings, and subjective well-being. Only youth training improved business knowledge, and only cash transfers improved consumption, income, and wealth. When the programs were compared directly at an equivalent cost per beneficiary ($332), “cash proves superior across a number of economic outcomes, while training outperforms cash only in the production of business knowledge”. The study found little evidence that combining cash with training improved cost-effectiveness, compared to delivering cash on its own.
Registration: AEA registry entry
Status: Working paper published in 2020, second endline planned for early 2021
Media and blogs: Vox, DevEx, Axios, Center for Global Development, GiveDirectly
How do cash transfers impact local economies?
Researchers: Dennis Egger (UC Berkeley), Johannes Haushofer (Princeton), Ted Miguel (UC Berkeley), Paul Niehaus (UCSD), and Michael Walker (UC Berkeley), with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action.
Location: Siaya County, Kenya
Overview: This study found that the consumption expenditure and income increased for both people who received cash, and those who did not. Over the course of 27 months, the total economic impact of a $1,000 transfer was approximately $2,500 (a fiscal multiplier of about 2.5) when impacts for recipients and non-recipients are combined. There were also gains in psychological wellbeing, food security, education and security for recipients, and no significant negative impacts were recorded for non-recipients. Delivering over 15% of local GDP in cash transfers only increased prices by 0.1% on average.
Registration: AEA registry entry
Status: Peer-reviewed paper (Econometrica, 2022). Working paper on taxation impacts released in 2018.
Media and blogs: Washington Post, The Economist, NPR, Vox, World Economic Forum, CBS Bay Area, GiveDirectly, The Life You Can Save, Behavioral Scientist, Michael Walker (taxation findings), Econimate
Universal Basic Income (UBI)
Researchers: Abhijit Banerjee (MIT), Tavneet Suri, (MIT), Alan Krueger (Princeton), Paul Niehaus (UCSD), and Michael Faye (GiveDirectly), with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action
Location: Siaya and Bomet counties, Kenya
Overview: The largest study of UBI to date will explore the impact of a long term basic income (12 years of monthly payments equivalent to $0.75 per day), a short term basic income (2 years at $0.75 per day) and a lump sum equivalent to the total value short term basic income. Surveys will cover a broad range of outcome domains: economic, health, social well-being, macroeconomic well-being, and financial preferences. Read more here.
Study registration: AEA registry entry
Status: Working paper on how basic income affects recipients during COVID-19 (2020). Lump sum and short-term cash transfers complete, long term transfers ongoing.
Media and blogs: Vox, The Conversation, GiveDirectly
Randomized controlled trials in progress
Can a psychological intervention amplify the impact of cash transfers?
Researchers: Kate Orkin (Oxford), Rob Garlick (Duke), Stefan Dercon (Oxford), Richard Sedlmayr (Oxford), Mahreen Mahmud (Oxford) and Johannes Haushofer (Princeton)
Location: Siaya and Homa Bay counties, Kenya
Study description: This study examines whether short, low-cost motivational interventions drawing on social psychology affect psychological outcomes, such as aspirations and sense of control, economic behaviour, and future-oriented investments. It also explores whether receiving such an intervention in combination with a cash transfer enhances the effects of the cash transfer. The intervention consists of a twenty-minute video about people similar to the respondents who have been successful economically, followed by a goal-setting exercise in groups. Similar videos were already tested in Ethiopia and Western Kenya.
Overview: AEA registry for main study; adjunct studies registered separately
Status: Endline complete, analysis underway
Evaluating alternative cash transfer designs in Kenya using behavioral economics
Researchers: Anandi Mani (Warwick), Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard), Paul Niehaus (UCSD), and Anuj Shah (Chicago) in partnership with ideas42 and measurement by GiveDirectly.
Location: Siaya County, Kenya
Overview: This study is measuring the impact of different cash transfer designs, including giving recipients control over timing and giving them information on the performance of investments made by past recipients.
Study registration: AEA registry entry
Status: Endline complete, analysis underway.
Benchmarking the impact of cash transfers in Liberia
Researchers: Jonathan Robinson (UCSC), Alan Spearot (UCSC), Jenny Aker (Tufts), and Shilpa Aggrawal (Indian School of Business), with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action
Location: Bong and Nimba counties, Liberia
Overview: This study will evaluate the impact of different cash transfers sizes ($250 to $750) on a broad range of outcome measures, for a broad range of recipients. Its findings will provide a benchmark against which the impacts of other potential development interventions in Liberia can be assessed. It will also test whether improving access to agricultural input markets increases the impact of cash transfers.
Study registration: Registration pending
Status: Baseline surveying and cash payments launched in 2018
Benchmarking the impact of cash transfers in Malawi
Researchers: Jonathan Robinson (UCSC), Alan Spearot (UCSC), Jenny Aker (Tufts), and Shilpa Aggrawal (Indian School of Business), with measurement by Innovations for Poverty Action
Location: Machinga and Chiradzulu districts, Malawi
Overview: This study will evaluate the impact of different cash transfers sizes ($250 to $750) on a broad range of outcome measures, for a broad range of recipients. Its findings will provide a benchmark against which the impacts of other potential development interventions in Malawi can be assessed. It will also test whether improving access to agricultural input markets increases the impact of cash transfers.
Study registration: Registration pending
Status: Baseline surveying and cash payments launched in 2019
Benchmarking the impact of cash transfers in DRC delivered to urban youth
Researchers: Jeremy Magruder (UC Berkeley) and Benjamin Krausse (UC Berkeley) with measurement by Marakuja Kivu Research
Location: Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Overview: This study will evaluate the impact of different cash transfers sizes to young people living in an urban environment on a broad range of outcome measures. Its findings will provide a benchmark against which the impacts of other potential development interventions targeting young people in DRC can be assessed. It will also explore the impact of varying transfer timing to inform future cash transfer program design.
Study registration: Registration pending
Status: Planning phase
Do cash transfers enhance the impact of youth employment training in rural DRC?
Researchers: Jeremy Magruder (UC Berkeley) and Benjamin Krausse (UC Berkeley) with measurement by Marakuja Kivu Research
Location: Walungu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Overview: This study will evaluate the effects of delivering cash transfers to young people living in rural areas. These youths are also participating in an Integrated Youth Development Activity (comprising Savings and Internal Lending Communities and a range of training opportunities), allowing researchers to test whether and how cash and the development activity complement each other. The study’s findings will provide a benchmark against which the impacts of other potential development interventions targeting youth in DRC can be assessed.
Study registration: Registration pending
Status: Planning phase
Evaluating the impact of large cash transfers to refugees and host nationals
Researchers: IDinsight (including measurement)
Location: Kiryandongo, Uganda
Overview: Over 1.5 million refugees and asylum-seekers live in Uganda, many of whom will remain in Uganda long-term given the protracted conflicts they are fleeing. This study will explore three core research questions: (1) What is the impact of $1,000 cash transfers on refugee households for outcomes such as income, assets, consumption, enterprise, food security and psychological well-being? (2) What do any changes caused by the cash transfers mean for the lives of refugee households and how did those changes come about? (3) What is the effect of cash transfers on host communities, and their relationship with the refugee communities? Read more here.
Study registration: Registration pending
Status: Endline published
Evaluating one-time cash transfers to U.S. households during the COVID-19 pandemic
Researchers: Brian Jacob (the University of Michigan [U-M]), Natasha Pilkauskas (U-M), Elizabeth Rhodes (OpenResearch), Katherine Richard (U-M), H. Luke Shaefer (U-M)
Location: United States
Overview: This study evaluates the impact of $1,000 cash transfers provided to low-income families across the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study includes two cohorts –– May 2020 and October 2020 –– totaling more than 25,000 participants. It is the first rigorous study of a one-time, $1,000 transfer in the U.S. It explores a variety of outcomes including material hardship, mental health, parenting practices, child well-being, and partner relationships. Read more here.
Study registration: Phase 1, Phase 2
Status: Endline complete, analysis underway
Non-experimental evaluations at GiveDirectly
Aside from the rigorous randomized control trials described above, we also implement a number of non-experimental projects to learn more about what’s feasible, what recipients prefer, or how different types of recipients spend funds they receive differently.
Are large cash transfers to refugees and host communities feasible?
Location: Kyaka II refugee settlement and surrounding communities, Uganda
Overview: This evaluation comprised recipient surveys and focus group discussions to evaluate the feasibility, reported spending and indicative impact of $660 lump sum cash transfers to long term refugees and host community households. Recipients reported wide-ranging positive impacts soon after receiving and spending their transfers.
Status: Project complete and report published
Blogs: GiveDirectly
Are large cash transfers to very remote communities feasible?
Location: Lamwo District, Uganda
Overview: Poverty levels are often high in remote areas, but the operational challenges that such areas present to implementing organisations have hindered the rollout of cash transfer programs. This evaluation comprised recipient surveys, mobile money agent surveys, and operational data analysis to assess the feasibility of $880 cash transfers to very remote communities in northern Uganda. It found that cash transfers can be delivered safely, securely and efficiently to recipients in very remote areas, suggesting that, mobile money offers a viable and beneficial delivery-channel for cash in this setting.
Status: Project complete and report published
Blogs: GiveDirectly
Cash transfers and disaster response
Location: Houston, USA and Puerto Rico
Overview: Following the 2017 hurricanes in Texas and Puerto Rico, GiveDirectly delivered nearly $10M in cash transfers to hard-hit, low-income families. An evaluation comprising recipient surveys, focus group discussions, and individual interviews evaluated the feasibility, reported spending, and indicative impact of $1,500 cash transfers to households impacted by hurricanes Harvey and Maria. It found that efficient cash-based response was feasible and recipients greatly valued the flexibility that cash afforded them. The diversity of needs translated to a wide range of reported benefits.
Status: Project complete and report published
Blogs: GiveDirectly
Large cash transfers in Liberia
Location: Grand Bassa, Liberia
Description: Recipient surveys and focus group discussions to evaluate the feasibility, reported spending and indicative impact of $1,000 lump sum cash transfers to households in rural Liberia.
Status: Transfers underway
What is the impact of large cash transfers on young people living in an urban slum?
Location: Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya
Description: Recipient surveys and focus group discussions to evaluate the feasibility and indicative impact of combining digital entrepreneurship tools with $1,200 cash transfers delivered as either lump sums or monthly payments to young people living in an urban slum.
Status: Project complete and report published.
What is the impact of giving large cash transfers to refugees in Rwanda?
Location: Mugombwa refugee camp, Rwanda
Overview: Recipient surveys to evaluate the feasibility and indicative impact of ~$700 lump sum cash transfers to refugee households.
Status: White paper published
What is the impact of monthly cash transfers in informal urban settlements during COVID?
Location: Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya
Overview: This evaluation investigated the feasibility, reported spending and indicative impact of monthly cash transfers in urban settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. 4,000 Kenyan Shillings (or $35) was sent to 52,700 individuals living in informal settlements in Nairobi and Mombasa for three months.
Status: Project complete, research summary published, report published.