Esther Duflo: Social experiments to fight poverty

The video discusses the challenges of aid effectiveness, focusing on preventable child deaths, immunization, malaria prevention, and education. It highlights the importance of using randomized controlled trials to determine effective interventions, such as providing free bed nets and deworming children. The speaker emphasizes the need for evidence-based policy-making to address poverty and improve global health outcomes.

What is the main reason the speaker gives for the difference in response to the Haiti earthquake and preventable child deaths?

• Lack of awareness about child deaths

• The intensity of media coverage

• The scale of the Haiti earthquake

• The frequency of child deaths

What is the main challenge in evaluating the effectiveness of aid in Africa?

• Corruption in aid management

• Inability to determine the counterfactual

• Lack of data on aid distribution

• Insufficient aid resources

What method does the speaker suggest to answer smaller questions about aid effectiveness?

• Historical analysis

• Surveys and interviews

• Randomized controlled trials

• Case studies

In the immunization example, what incentive was used to increase immunization rates?

• Educational workshops

• Cash payments

• Free transportation

• A kilo of lentils

What was the result of providing bed nets for free in the Kenyan experiment?

• People sold the bed nets

• People used the bed nets as fishing nets

• People used the bed nets regardless of cost

• People did not use the bed nets

What surprising result was found regarding education interventions?

• Providing school meals had no impact

• Hiring more teachers was the best solution

• Building more schools was most effective

• Informing about education benefits was highly effective

What is the cost of saving a life through immunization or bed nets, according to the speaker?

• $1000 per life saved

• $500 per life saved

• $300 per life saved

• $100 per life saved

What is the cost of gaining an extra year of education through deworming?

• $5 per year

• $1 per year

• $3 per year

• $10 per year

What is the speaker's view on the potential of small, evidence-based interventions?

• They can make a significant impact

• They are too costly to implement

• They require too much time to show results

• They are ineffective in the long term

What does the speaker compare the proposed economic approach to?

• Medieval agriculture

• 20th-century medicine

• Modern engineering

• 21st-century technology