How Mechanistic Explanations Reshape Learning and Behavior: Evidence from a Fertilizer Choice Experiment in Eastern 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 a system through the causal interactions of its parts—play a key role in human cognition and scientific progress. Despite their importance, we lack systematic evidence on whether and how mechanistic explanations help lay decision-makers interpret information in complex economic environments. We evaluate the causal impact of including mechanistic explanations in an information intervention: public demonstrations of fertilizer use for smallholder tomato farmers in Eastern Uganda. In all demonstrations, extension officers showcased the impact of a recommended fertilizer recipe. In the treatment group, officers also explained the mechanisms underlying the recipe's effects—introducing the language of macronutrients and the causal processes linking nutrients, soil features, and plant growth. We collect detailed data on beliefs and behaviors from 797 farmers in a lab-in-the-field experiment. Treated farmers are better able to generalize from mechanisms to update beliefs about the returns to fertilizers, substitute and arbitrage among fertilizers based on nutrient content, and exhibit better understanding of the principles of nutrient and soil science. In an incentivized fertilizer application task, they achieved 9% higher simulated profits by selecting more agronomically sound fertilizer recipes, without increasing costs.
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.