Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)

?? Join us for Measuring Development 2025: Biodiversity on Land and at Sea The World Bank and CEGA invite you to our 11th annual #MeasureDev Conference exploring cutting-edge approaches to biodiversity measurement and conservation. Human flourishing depends on biodiversity - the animals, plants, and other living organisms whose functions make Earth habitable and whose existence holds intrinsic value. ??? April 29, 2025 ?? The World Bank, Washington, D.C. ?? Focus: New data and methods for effective biodiversity conservation David Kroodsma, Chief Scientist of Global Fishing Watch, and Laura Pollock, Assistant Professor in quantitative ecology at McGill University, will be delivering keynote addresses. #MeasureDev2025 #BiodiversityConservation Register now: https://lnkd.in/eBrfNDmy

How can we boost the productivity of small-scale farmers and build sustainable food systems through #evidence-based solutions? ?? CEGA’s Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI), co-led with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), is tackling this challenge by generating and sharing rigorous research on policies and programs that support technology adoption in agriculture. ?? With over 80 studies across 18 countries, ATAI is helping policymakers, social impact organizations, firms, and funders design smarter interventions that improve farmer welfare and resilience. ?? Learn how #ATAI is driving evidence-informed decisions: https://lnkd.in/eBtAcJP7 ?? Sign up for ATAI’s newsletter: https://lnkd.in/exzxMMNJ

CEGA is #hiring! We're seeking a communications intern to work 10 hours a week on social media management, event logistics, media tracking, web analytics, and more! Interns also lead special projects. This fully #remote internship pays $21-26/hour. Apply now: https://lnkd.in/ec2bmH5J

In a powerful call to action, CEGA Executive Director Carson Christiano addresses the dismantling of #USAID and slashes to global aid budgets worldwide. 5,800 contracts, including those led by CEGA and our partners, have been canceled midstream. Among the USAID cuts was CEGA's #PILCEE initiative: “Promoting Impact and Learning with Cost-Effectiveness Evidence" which was set up by former USAID Chief Economist Dean Karlan?and his team to apply cost-effectiveness analysis to USAID programs. Diminishing resources make investing in rigorous research and evidence-based approaches like PILCEE more crucial than ever before. Christiano reminds us that "Evidence has no agenda and favors no partisan opinion—it is the cornerstone of a functional democracy." https://lnkd.in/ennnXp_Q

?? How can machine learning improve follow-ups in health surveys? 2017 CEGA Fellow Damazo Kadengye and colleagues have applied machine learning tactics to tackle the challenge of attrition in a two-stage epilepsy prevalence survey in Nairobi. By predicting factors associated with failure to follow-up, their research aims to improve the accuracy of studies on epilepsy +? similar conditions. ?? Key findings include identifying proximity to industrial areas, gender, employment, and education as predictors of attrition. Their machine learning model achieved impressive performance, providing insights for better mobilization and follow-up strategies in health research. ?? Read more on how this innovative approach can enhance data collection in public health studies: https://lnkd.in/eFEJ-WyM

?? How does gender impact access to digital credit in Malawi? ?? CEGA's research is exploring the gender gap in digital credit access through an innovative study with Airtel Malawi Plc. In Malawi, only 38% of mobile money subscribers are women, and they use these services less frequently than men, limiting their access to digital credit. This study seeks to uncover the factors contributing to this gap, including financial literacy and credit scoring models. With support from CEGA, the research will balance the gender sample, investigate the effects of a financial literacy intervention, and assess the impact of digital loans on financial behavior and well-being. The findings could help develop targeted solutions to improve financial inclusion for women in Malawi. ?? Learn more about this study + its potential to reshape digital finance: https://lnkd.in/eqS3A4TF?

CEGA is #hiring! The Opportunity Lab is hiring a Predoctoral Fellow in Energy & Environmental Economics to collaborate on projects exploring environmental externalities like air pollution. ?? Key responsibilities:? ?? Managing research projects, data collection, and analysis? ?? Working with confidential environmental & energy data? ?? Collaborating on empirical research at the intersection of economics & policy ?? Ideal for candidates with:? ?? A BA/BS in Economics, Statistics, Math, Computer Science, or a related field? ?? Strong programming skills (Stata, R, Python, etc.)? ?? A passion for empirical research before pursuing graduate studies ?? Start: June–Sept 2025? ?? Salary: $64K–$75K Learn more here and apply now: https://lnkd.in/gUVY8bBz

?? How does coal-fired electricity impact crop productivity in India? CEGA-affiliated professor David Lobell and colleagues analyze the agricultural costs of coal pollution, showing that NO? emissions from power plants reduce rice and wheat yields by over 10% in highly exposed regions like West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. These losses equate to nearly six years of yield growth, with implications for food security + rural livelihoods. ?? Their findings highlight the need to consider crop losses alongside health impacts when regulating coal emissions—ensuring policies that maximize social benefits. ?? Read the full study: https://lnkd.in/g2aJr8gm

?? How can we make impact evaluation findings more comparable + actionable? CEGA is collaborating with The World Bank + other global partners to launch the Impact Data and Evidence Aggregation Library (IDEAL) - the largest open-access platform of its kind that allows users to search, compare, and visualize effect sizes across interventions, outcomes, and contexts. By standardizing key data from impact evaluations, IDEAL will unlock new possibilities for meta-analysis + evidence synthesis, helping policymakers make better data-driven decisions. ?? Learn more or collaborate with us: https://lnkd.in/e3rqm9_M

Replication is key to credible research, yet it remains rare in social sciences. CEGA’s BITSS Program Manager, Johanna (Jo) Weech, spoke with Sridevi Prasad and Douglas Glandon about their replication checklist, a tool designed to standardize and simplify impact evaluation replications. By fostering transparency and collaboration, this checklist helps researchers strengthen findings—not discredit them. As funders and journals push for more rigor, this tool is a step toward more reproducible, high-impact research. Read more about the checklist and its impact: https://lnkd.in/eQiHevjg