Research

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) manage $23 trillion in assets, yet little research exists on their investment impact. Over the past 30 years, DFIs have increasingly invested in venture capital (VC), participating in one out of six deals. They pursue four main objectives: building VC ecosystems, supporting entrepreneurship, fostering innovation, and promoting sustainability. Our analysis finds that in developing economies, DFIs target industries with positive externalities, support underrepresented fund managers, and improve transparency but rarely back young funds or early-stage deals, with minimal impact on firm growth or innovation. In developed economies, DFIs show little evidence of addressing market failures. Overall, DFIs have significant potential to improve their impact by better aligning investments with mandates and taking greater risks.

How to fundraise for highly effective charities? Our results show that simply labeling a charity as "highly cost-effective" increases donations compared to providing no effectiveness information. Interestingly, showing relative effectiveness ("100x more effective than average charities") boosts donations further. In contrast, sharing absolute metrics ("it costs $5,000 to save a life") reduces giving. This occurs because effectiveness information only motivates donors when it exceeds their prior expectations, and most donors underestimate the differences in cost-effectiveness between top and average charities. Yet, most donors mistakenly believe it costs much less than $5,000 to save a life.

Imagine you have €100 to give to one of three people who are in need of money. Do you choose the person who you think can make the biggest impact with the money or the one who is struggling through no fault of their own? People have different views on how they should give. Utilitarianism suggests we should aim to maximize societal well-being, but previous research shows many people are less supportive of helping those they believe are responsible for their own bad situation. We analyze giving behavior using the Dutch TV show Geld Maakt Gelukkig ("Money Buys Happiness"). Our findings show that while responsibility matters, perceived impact is the strongest driver of donations.

Girls’ poor ability to manage menstrual health (MH) imposes barriers to education and general wellbeing, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This paper presents the results of the Ritu trial, a 2-year clustered randomized controlled trial, examining the effect of a multi-faceted menstrual health intervention in Bangladesh. We randomized 148 schools from one rural district, into one of the three groups; i) receiving a school program (sanitation facilities, MH education and support); ii) a school program and a targeted household program (parental MH education); iii) or the control group. The primary beneficiaries are schoolgirls in grades 6 until 8, age 11-15. We measure short- to medium-term impacts on school attendance, a set of psychosocial outcomes, and menstrual health outcomes.

Millionaires are more generous in dictator games than any other group studied in the literature. Yet, millionaires reduce their generosity in a bargaining context (ultimatum game). For fund raisers, it is therefore important to tap into the giving mindset of the wealthy and prevent an exchange focus like: “You give, you get”.