Finally, we see that the behavioral interventions are mostly cost-effective, meaning that they produce a greater increase in the outcomes of interest than simply using the money spent on them to buttress the transfer would have.

# **7.2: Mechanisms**

Randomized trials alone can rarely help us to explain the mechanisms behind the results that we observe. In early 2019, a consultant researcher conducted a qualitative survey to illuminate the potential pathways through which the various HDCT program elements may have produced (or failed to produce) their impacts.

<mark>The qualitative evaluation results revealed a clear difference between the "Mother Leaders only" and “behaviorally enhanced” arms. Testimonies about the impact of the program collected from among the “Mother Leaders only” arm were focused on school expenditure relief and consumption smoothing and less on futureoriented behaviors. Expectations of interviewed beneficiaries focused on the continuity of the transfer or a revision of the frequency and amount of the transfer. At the individual level, women beneficiaries claimed to have developed higher self-esteem that had been triggered not only by increased food security but also an awareness of their ability to have an influence on their future and their ability to make an informed choice that could have a positive impact on their family.</mark> <mark>At the collective level, beneficiaries acquired information and knowledge when participating in the Mother Leaders sessions. The “well-being sessions” provided an additional platform for exchanges that engendered solidarity among beneficiaries and improved collective decision-making capacity. These findings are consistent with the qualitative evaluation of a safety net program in Southern Madagascar which uses similar benefit structures and delivery platforms, including mother leaders, led by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS). The IDS evaluation concluded that the mother leader-led groups are highly valued by program beneficiaries and have contributed to social cohesion, women’s education, children’s wellbeing and show promise of sustainability because of their popularity and dynamism. Mother leaders are reported to have played a role in the increased uptake of nutritional education and healthy practices, including breast-feeding, by mothers of young children. The leadership capacities of the mother leaders and group dynamics whereby women are mobilized to work collectively are recognized as central elements of the model (Huff, 2019).</mark> <mark>Testimony collected among beneficiaries who received any forms of the “behavioral interventions” demonstrated a noticeably augmented sense of agency due to a higher degree of confidence in their ability to control their household resources. This may have led to improvements in bargaining power both within and outside the household: beneficiaries in ML groups who received the plan-making variant reported using the group action plans they developed to better negotiate collectively with producers of farm input goods to receive more favorable prices.</mark> More qualitative work may be necessary to fully understand the mechanisms through which each ‘nudge’ variant worked, and especially the cases in which they did not add additional value to either the cash or the mother leaders.

# **7.3: Limitations and Directions for Future Research**

A key limitation of this study is that the time between baseline and midline is insufficient for the full effects of interventions – particularly those that relate to child development – to play out, while possibly overstating the importance of some of the proximate behavioral variables where change may be quick but not durable. Some of these issues will be sought to be addressed in the endline evaluation, which was originally planned for late 2020, or another 18 months out, although this has been delayed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, a key limitation we will not be able to address is the question of whether the ‘nudges’ have sufficient value _absent_ the Mother Leaders intervention, onto which they are layered. This is a key question for future research, but one we are unable to address in the present study where it was not possible, due to operational constraints, to deliver the ‘nudges’ absent mother leader groups. Future research should also seek to unpack the mechanisms through which the Mother Leaders produce impact, something that our design is not able to address.

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