Aspirations, or a lack thereof, have recently gained the attention of economists as a behavioral constraint to future-oriented behavior and investment. In this paper we empirically test the theories of aspirations failure and formation articulated in Appadurai (2004), Ray (2006), and Genicot and Ray (2015) using a unique dataset from rural Nepal. We ask two questions: (1) What is the relationship between aspirations and future-oriented behavior? and (2) To what extent are an individual's aspirations associated with the observable characteristics of those around her? We find that aspirations correspond with future-oriented economic behavior as predicted by theory: investment in the future increases with aspirations up to a certain point, but if the gap between one's current status and aspirations becomes too large, investment subsequently declines. We also find that one's aspirations are associated with outcomes of those in her social network of higher, but not lower, status. Together these findings provide empirical evidence that aspirations, which may be a social phenomenon, can either stimulate development or reinforce poverty. Recent theoretical work has revealed a complex relationship between aspirations, investment, and poverty (

This study evaluates the short-term impacts of a livestock transfer and training program in Nepal using an RCT with three treatments to capture differential effects of program components. We also evaluate a unique “pay it forward” program rule where recipients are encouraged to share newly acquired knowledge and accumulated wealth to other households in need. After 1.5 years, financial inclusion increases by 0.3 standard deviations and empowerment increases by 0.2 standard deviations among direct beneficiaries. “Pay it forward” impacts are of approximately the same magnitude as direct beneficiaries in the treatments that include encouragement to “pay it forward.”

The overuse of lecture-based approaches for instruction in university courses may have limited student access to knowledge, particularly the transfer of complex concepts, such as central limit theorem in statistics. This study seeks to contribute to empirical research regarding the effectiveness of serious educational games (SEGs) to increase undergraduates’ conceptual understanding and affective interest in statistics. An experimental design was used to test the efficacy of an SEG, Deadly Distribution, which simulates a real-world context to learn and interact with statistics concepts, compared to traditional notes and homework problems, as supplements to instruction in addition to class lectures. Students who played the game had similar increases in academic growth of conceptual knowledge as students who studied traditional course material. Furthermore, this treatment group had a significant increase in affective outcomes compared to the control group. These findings extend the current literature, which is mixed and sparse, on the effectiveness of SEGs in the undergraduate classroom. In an undergraduate introductory statistics course, an SEG might be an effective substitute for traditional study time of course materials outside of class to increase their affect toward the subject matter and produce similar gains for students who might not otherwise study.

In the 21st century, students have access to a plethora of information. As such, the skills required to access and effectively sort through this information (information literacy skills) become ever more important for success in both academic and non-academic settings. This study sought to assess the efficacy of two educational games designed to increase high school students' information literacy skills. Using a randomized controlled trial in a high school setting, the games were integrated into a standard curriculum and tested for efficacy. Post-test results indicated that both games effectively transmit targeted skills. Additionally, improved performance (relative to controls) on end-of-instruction testing (EOI; end-of-year state testing) suggest that these skills transfer across important academic domains. The study provides strong evidence to support the use of these two educational games to supplement and enhance information literacy instruction.

Researchers often want to examine the relationship between a variable of interest and multiple related outcomes. To avoid problems of inference that arise from testing multiple hypotheses, one can create a summary index of the outcomes. Summary indices facilitate generalizing findings and can be more powerful than individual tests. In this article, we introduce a command, swindex, that implements the generalized least-squares method of index construction proposed by Anderson (2008, Journal of the American Statistical Association 103: 1481–1495). We describe the command and its options and provide an example based on Blattman, Fiala, and Martinez’s (2014, Quarterly Journal of Economics 129: 697–752) evaluation of a cash transfer program in Uganda.