06/11/2026
In a new working paper (ungated EGC link in comments), Patrick Agte, Daniel R. Morales, PhD, EGC affiliate Christopher Neilson, Sebastiรกn Otero & Gautam Rao ask what factors influence a national scale-up of an effective program.
In a national experiment in the Dominican Republic scaling an effective education program with school principals: "We find precise null effects of sharing research evidence, providing modest financial incentives, or offering implementation assistance to principals. In contrast, additional reminder calls increased implementation by 20 percentage points."
Testing what gets bureaucrats to implement mandated programs. Incentives, evidence, support: zero effect. Reminder phone calls: +20 percentage points. Attention matters, from Patrick Agte, Daniel R. Morales, Christopher Neilson, Sebastiรกn Otero, and Gautam Rao https://www.nber.org/papers/w35291