Conflict-free certifications for artisanal mines are associated with a 9.4% (16.3%) reduction in armed group–initiated conflicts (fatalities) within a 10-km radius of gold mines. After certifications, there is no aggregate reduction in conflict intensity in Eastern DRC territories, and conflicts intensify further away from certified mines.

Following the coup of 1973 that brought military dictatorship to Chile under Augusto Pinochet’s rule, enrollment in higher education fell (owing to reduced government spending), with negative effects on those missing out; Broadly, those who were affected experienced an increase in mortality rates, worse labor market outcomes, lower consumption of health services, and were more likely dependent on public health services. Decades later, the children of those who were denied a college education were also less likely to attend college.

Improved cookstoves reduce exposure to peak cooking emissions by 42%, though impacts on overall pollution exposure are muted by high ambient pollution. The reduction in peak emissions reduces self-reported respiratory symptoms but does not improve more quantitative diagnoses such as blood pressure or blood oxygen.

Bus drivers and police officers in the Congo form relationships to avoid long bribe negotiations during traffic police stops and thereby protect their joint revenues. Experimentally reducing opportunities for these relationships lessens the revenues from driving, and the component of that which is paid as bribes: without relationships, drivers avoid detection by the police, thereby losing passengers and obtaining lower prices, which hurts both drivers and police officers’ revenue.

In Medellín, Colombia, gangs provide residents of low- and middle-income neighborhoods with key governing services to reduce the need for state presence, thereby protecting their drug profits. Increased state presence leads to increased gang presence, suggesting new strategies for countering criminal governance.

Economists typically presuppose that the absence of state capacities to raise official revenue to finance public service is a key factor in the persistence of so-called weak states. However, so-called “weak states” often have a strong “real” capacity to raise revenue and organize public service—albeit not along official lines.

Cognitive behavior therapy alone, and therapy with economic assistance, produce dramatic reductions in antisocial behaviors, with greatest impacts among high-risk men; however, the effects of therapy alone are smaller and more fragile.