How Mechanistic Explanations Reshape Learning and Behavior: Evidence from a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment in Uganda, with Anirudh Sankar, Ben Davies, Vesall Nourani, Jess Rudder, Godfrey Taulya, and Abraham Salomon
Funding from IGC, the King Center on Global Development, and the Weiss Fund. In collaboration with Agriworks Uganda. Endline data collection finished. AEA RCT Registry Entry.
Abstract: Mechanistic explanations—descriptions of the parts of a system and how they interact causally—play a key role in human cognition and scientific progress. Despite their importance, we lack systematic evidence on how mechanistic explanations affect learning and behavior in economic settings. We evaluate the causal impact of including mechanistic explanations to an information intervention: public demonstrations of fertilizer use for smallholder tomato farmers in Eastern Uganda. In all demonstrations, extension officers showed the impact of a recommended fertilizer recipe. In the treatment group, officers also explained the underlying mechanisms—introducing the language of macronutrients and the causal processes linking nutrients, soil features, and plant growth. We collect detailed belief and behavior measures from 797 farmers using a lab-in-the-field module and an endline household survey. Treated farmers are better able to generalize results of the demo to novel fertilizer combinations, substitute fertilizers based on nutrients, and exhibit better understanding of the principles of nutrient and soil science. In an incentivized adaptive experimentation task, they achieve 9% higher simulated profits. Mechanistic explanations help economic agents generalize, supporting better decisions in complex, high-stakes environments.
Diffusion and Equilibrium Impacts of a Pedagogical Intervention: Evidence from Learning to Learn and Uganda, with Aisha Nanyiti, Vesall Nourani, and Sara Restrepo Tamayo
Funding from J-PAL Learning for All Initiative. In collaboration with the Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Technology.
Abstract: In recent years, pedagogical interventions have emerged as some of the most effective policies for promoting learning in developing contexts. Yet little is known about how such innovations diffuse at scale and reshape education markets in equilibrium. We evaluate a regional scale-up of a highly impactful and cost-effective pedagogical intervention that trains teachers to think like scientists and reflect on the purpose of education (Nourani, Ashraf, and Banerjee, 2023). We design a multi-level randomized controlled trial across nearly 600 schools in Uganda, varying the density of the training across geographical areas and schools, while randomly selecting individual teachers for the training. Our design allows us to investigate how a pedagogical innovation diffuses through social networks and shifts teacher and student behavior in equilibrium. We combine this variation with detailed social network data on connections between teachers to answer questions about the impact of training density on diffusion, reinforcement, and innovation of novel pedagogical techniques. We investigate three key questions. How does training density within and across schools reinforce impacts on trained teachers? What is the effect of training density on diffusion to untrained teachers? What is the equilibrium impact of pedagogical change on local education markets? Our study provides novel evidence on how new knowledge reshapes behavior through diffusion, reinforcement, and equilibrium effects.
Using a Digital Client Feedback Platform to Improve Health Care Quality: Evidence from Tanzania, with Pascaline Dupas, Dylan Groves, and John Marshall
Funding from FID and the J-PAL Governance Initiative. In collaboration with Wezesha Tanzania. Pilot ongoing.
Abstract: Improvements in health outcomes in the Global South are limited by underutilized and low-quality public health services. Under-utilitzation and low-quality often stem from weak accountability structures, limited information flows between citizens, providers, and bureaucrats, and inadequate methods for gathering citizen feedback. This study evaluates a mobile citizen feedback system designed to improve service quality and accountability in Tanzanian public health facilities. The intervention we study enables patients to anonymously report healthcare experiences via SMS surveys, providing real-time, facility-specific insights on service quality across multiple domains. Feedback is aggregated and shared with facilities and government facility monitoring teams. Using a randomized controlled trial, we assess the intervention's impact on service quality, utilization, community satisfaction, and health outcomes.