Evidence on NORMalizing Masks is Used by Organizations and Governments to Reach Millions

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of more than 3.5 million people globally, and South Asia has become the epicenter of the pandemic. While vaccines offer a long-term solution, they still remain scarce in low-income countries, and masks and other protective measures are still critical to stemming the spread. However, in many places wearing a mask is still not the norm. A new model designed to NORMalize mask-wearing points to a scalable solution. IPA and a large coalition of partners have quickly mobilized to support government and non-government organizations in scaling the model. In India, the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is currently scaling the model to 3-4 million people. In Bangladesh, the city of Dhaka is scaling and BRAC is poised to reach 81 million people with the model nationwide, but some funding gaps exist.

Read more in the policy brief, the scale-up page, and this impact case study.

NEW RESULTS

Understanding Payday Loan Borrowers' Decisions in the United States

Researchers: Hunt Allcott, Joshua Kim, Dmitry Taubinsky, and Jonathan Zinman

Payday loans—small short-term loans with high interest rates that become due at the time of the borrower’s next paycheck—are a common form of lending to people with low income in the United States. Do borrowers taking out these loans make rational decisions, or do they borrow more than they expect or would like to in the long run? Researchers partnered with a large payday lender in Indiana to conduct an evaluation to better understand consumers’ decision-making. The results suggest that average borrowers can anticipate their probability of taking loans in the future. However, people focus too much on the present when making decisions about payday loans, a behavior that they would like to change.

Read the full summary here and the working paper here.

BLOG

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