Should Aid Reward Performance? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Health and Education in Indonesia

This paper reports an experiment in over 3,000 Indonesian villages designed to test the role of performance incentives in improving the efficacy of aid programs. Villages in a randomly-chosen one-third of subdistricts received a block grant to improve 12 maternal and child health and education indicators, with the size of the subsequent year’s block grant depending on performance relative to other villages in the subdistrict. Villages in remaining subdistricts were randomly assigned to either an otherwise identical block grant program with no financial link to performance, or to a pure control group. We find that the incentivized villages performed better on health than the non-incentivized villages, particularly in less developed areas, but found no impact of incentives on education. We find no evidence of negative spillovers from the incentives to untargeted outcomes, and no evidence that villagers manipulated scores. The relative performance design was crucial in ensuring that incentives did not result in a net transfer of funds toward richer areas. Incentives led to what appear to be more efficient spending of block grants, and led to an increase in labor from health providers, who are partially paid fee-for-service, but not teachers. On net, between 50-75% of the total impact of the block grant program on health indicators can be attributed to the performance incentives.

Should Aid Reward Performance? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Health and Education in Indonesia

We report an experiment in 3,000 villages that tested whether incentives improve aid efficacy. Villages received block grants for maternal and child health and education that incorporated relative performance incentives. Subdistricts were randomized into incentives, an otherwise identical program without incentives, or control. Incentives initially improved preventative health indicators, particularly in underdeveloped areas, and spending efficiency increased. While school enrollments improved overall, incentives had no differential impact on education, and incentive health effects diminished over time. Reductions in neonatal mortality in nonincentivized areas did not persist with incentives. We find no systematic scoring manipulation nor funding reallocation toward richer areas.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant P01 HD061315

Reactions of (polypyrazolylborato)(benzonitrile)rutheniums with terminal alkynes: Reactivity changeover by triethylamine toward arylalkyne polymerization or formation of (arylmethyl)(carbonyl) complexes

Reactions of (κ 3-polypyrazolylborato)(benzonitrile) rutheniums [RuCl{B(4-Ypz) 4}(PhCN) 2] {4-Ypz; 4-bromo-1-pyrazolyl (Y = Br) and 1-pyrazolyl (Y = H) groups} with terminal alkynes were studied. For the reactions with arylalkynes HC≡C(aryl) in the presence of NEt 3, (arylmethyl)(carbonyl)rutheniums [Ru{CH 2(aryl)}{B(4-Ypz) 4}(CO)(PhCN)] were yielded, indicating alkyne C≡C bond cleavage, whereas in the absence of NEt 3, arylalkyne polymerization proceeded instead of the (arylmethyl)ruthenium formation. Reasonably attributed reaction mechanism shows significant role of the vinylidene intermediates "Ru=C=CH(aryl)"

看護大学生の卒業前看護技術演習の効果

今年度初めて,卒業前の学生に看護技術に対する不安の軽減を図ることを目的とした看護技術演習を行った。演習項目は,「経口薬の与薬」「筋肉注射」「点滴静脈注射」「輸液ポンプ」「採血」「膀胱内留置カテーテル挿入」「聴診」「経管栄養」「気管内吸引」である。指導には,教員の他に卒業生インストラクターが参加した。演習の参加は自由であり,参加した学生には無記名自記式質問紙により演習前の不安の強さと看護技術到達度について,演習後に,不安の変化と看護技術到達度の調査を行った。その結果,演習後に看護技術到達度は上昇し,学生の看護技術に対する不安は軽減した。卒業前の看護技術演習は,学生の看護技術に対する不安の軽減に効果があることが明らかとなった。また,卒業生インストラクターの参加は,学生が臨床に触れる機会となり新人看護職員研修のイメ-ジ化につながり,就職に対する不安を軽減する効果があると考えられた。Health Crisis management duties relating to specific food preparation and distribution facilities managed by Public Health Centres have been announced by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. According to these guidelines, nutritionally balanced meals should be safely provided, even in disastersituations. Therefore, such facilities should be prepared for disaster at all times and they should not neglect to ensure that they are able to provide help to each other in times of emergency. In this regard, after carrying outan assessment on the disaster preparation of some of these facilities in the city of Hamamatsu in ShizuokaPrefecture, results suggest that the organizational abilities of Registered Dietitians in Public Health Centresplay a very important role in disaster prevention training, which involves both regional and external participants

Randomized evaluation of the impact of the Philippines CCT

행사명 : The Regional Impact Evaluation Worksho

Project Generasi: Conditional Community Block Grants in Indonesia

We report an experiment in 3,000 villages that tested whether incentives improve aid efficacy. Villages received block grants for maternal and child health and education that incorporated relative performance incentives. Subdistricts were randomized into incentives, an otherwise identical program without incentives, or control. Incentives initially improved preventative health indicators, particularly in underdeveloped areas, and spending efficiency increased. While school enrollments improved overall, incentives had no differential impact on education, and incentive health effects diminished over time. Reductions in neonatal mortality in nonincentivized areas did not persist with incentives. We find no systematic scoring manipulation nor funding reallocation toward richer areas

Mechanism of Introduction of Exogenous Genes into Cultured Cells Using DEAE-Dextran-MMA Graft Copolymer as Non-Viral Gene Carrier

Comparative investigations were carried out regarding the efficiency of introduction of exogenous genes into cultured cells using a cationic polysaccharide DEAE-dextran-MMA (methyl methacrylate ester) graft copolymer (2-diethylaminoethyl-dextran-methyl methacrylate graft copolymer; DDMC) as a nonviral carrier for gene introduction. The results confirmed that the gene introduction efficiency was improved with DDMC relative to DEAE-dextran. Comparative investigations were carried out using various concentrations of DDMC and DNA in the introduction of DNA encoding luciferase (pGL3 control vector; Promega) into COS-7 cells derived from African green monkey kidney cells. The complex formation reaction is thought to be directly proportional to the transformation rate, but the complex formation reaction between DDMC and DNA is significantly influenced by hydrophobic bonding strength along with hydrogen bonding strength and Coulomb forces due to the hydrophobicity of the grafted MMA sections. It is thought that the reaction is a Michaelis-Menten type complex formation reaction described by the following equation: Complex amount = K1 (DNA concentration)(DDMC concentration). In support of this equation, it was confirmed that the amount of formed complex was proportional to the RLU value