ECON 204

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photo: World Bank (1962)

Instructor:
Pamela Jakiela

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Policy Brief Assignment

For this assignment, you will write a two-page (i.e. one page front and back) policy brief on a current working paper. You are encourage to use the policy brief template here (the link only works if you are logged in with a Williams College address). You are free to adapt the layout of the brief as you see fit, and I encourage you to put some thought into the structure and layout of your brief. However, your brief must include:

  1. A title
  2. A description of the development policy issue that the intervention seeks to address
  3. A description of the intervention and the design of the randomized trial
  4. A graphic, produced in Stata, summarizing the estimated impacts of the program
  5. Text explaining the graphic
  6. A summary of the main takeaways and policy implications from the study
  7. At least one other visual element
  8. A correct citation of the paper you are summarizing, as well as your name.

You are free to discuss your brief with your classmates, but everything you submit must be your own work. To avoid violating the Honor Code, you should not use any text that is taken directly from the paper.

You are free to prepare your brief about any of the papers below:

Graduation Programs Targeting Women: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo
By Manuela Angelucci, Rachel Heath, and Eva Noble
Keywords: graduation,women’s empowerment, financial inclusion, fragile and conflict-affected areas

Money (Not) to Burn: Payments for Ecosystem Services to Reduce Crop Residue Burning
By Kelsey Jack, Seema Jayachandran Namrata Kala, Rohini Pande
Keywords: air quality, agriculture, payments for ecosystem services

Cash Transfers and Community Participation in Public Affairs: A Village-Level Randomized Controlled Trial in Kenya
By Kate Orkin and Michael Walker
Keywords: unconditional cash transfers, patronage, local politics

Got (Clean) Milk?: Organization, Incentives, and Management in Indian Dairy Cooperatives
By Manaswini Rao and Ashish Shenoy
Keywords: rural livelihoods, quality upgrading, cooperatives, dairy, elite capture, India