Economic Inclusion and Jobs for the poor: How to replicate and scale effective solutions

On March 30th & 31st, 2026, the Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI), Development Impact Group (DECDI), and technical partners will host a technical workshop on scaling effective economic inclusion programs.

 

Day 1:
Research Sessions
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM ET

Day 2:
Policy Sessions
9:00 AM - 1:30 PM ET

 

The Partnership for Economic Inclusion (PEI) and the Development Impact Group (DECDI) will host the Fourth Technical Workshop of the PEI Impact Collaborative on March 30th and 31st, 2026. This workshop will bring together researchers, operational teams, and PEI technical partners to discuss the implications of new impact evidence on multi-faceted economic inclusion programs, including graduation programs.


Over two days, the workshop will:

• Feature new impact results and analytical insights from ongoing studies on key policy questions for economic inclusion.
• Discuss how emerging evidence can inform project design and implementation to accelerate replication and scale-up of effective economic inclusion programs.

Objectives:
The key objectives of the technical workshop will be to:
• Deepen exchanges on emerging impact findings and related operational lessons.
• Support evidence-based scaling by connecting country-level insights with broader evidence to guide smart replication and system-level adoption.
• Strengthen collaboration between researchers, World Bank Task Team Leaders (TTLs), and practitioners.


The PEI Impact Collaborative convenes partners, researchers, and operational teams to strengthen the effectiveness of government-led economic inclusion programs. Anchored in a "Learn. Adapt. Scale." approach, the Collaborative helps translate priority policy and implementation questions emerging from country programs into a shared learning and evaluation agenda, while distilling rigorous evidence for operational teams to smartly replicate and scale effective solutions through government systems.

Day 1: Research day – March 30, 2026

 

Session 1: Optimizing multi-faceted economic inclusion programs to improve jobs for the poor

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Credit vs. Grant: Testing asset transfer modalities in Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Nets [link] | John Loeser, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

  • Testing different graduation packages in Malawi: Initial results from Malawi’s Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project [link] | Benedetta Lerva, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

  • Assessing different combinations of cash transfers, public works, and livelihood support: Evidence from Tanzania’s large-scale Productive Social Safety Net (PSSN-II) [link] | Dahyeon Jeong, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

 

Session 2: Impacting youth and women’s empowerment outcomes

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Optimizing for Scale: Economic Inclusion for Urban Youth in Cameroon | Antoine Deeb, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

  • Supporting Women’s Livelihoods at Scale: Evidence from a Nationwide Multi-Faceted Program [link] | Andrew Brudevold-Newman, Economist, Africa Gender Innovation Lab, World Bank

  • Gender Targeting and Household Cooperation: Experimental Evidence from Concern Malawi [link] | Julia Vaillant, Senior Economist, Africa Gender Innovation Lab, World Bank

 

 

Session 3: Rapid insights from ongoing research projects

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • GiveDirectly’s cash-plus for economic mobility research agenda [link] | Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University

  • Economic Inclusion for People Living with Disabilities in Grand Anse, Haiti [link] | Kelsey Wright, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

  • Impact Evaluation of the Productive Social Safety Nets and Youth Unemployment Project (PSSNYE) [link] | Gianmarco Leon, Associate Professor, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

  • Gender Targeting and the Psychosocial and Economic Effects of Livelihood Programs in a Fragile Setting [link] | Arlen Guarin, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

 

Session 4: Economic inclusion in challenging settings affected by conflicts or shocks

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Do ultra-poor graduation programs build resilience against droughts? [link] | Jessica Leight, Senior Research Fellow, Poverty, Gender, and Inclusion Unit, International Food Policy Research Institute

  • Economic inclusion for refugees and host communities in a fragile context: Evidence from a randomized experiment in Niger [link] | Tara Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Trinity College Dublin

  • Livelihoods packages, delivery mechanisms, and household decision‑making: Evidence from Nigeria’s National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP) [link] | Thomas Bossuroy, Senior Economist, Social Policy, World Bank

 

Session 5: Learning across settings

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Pathways out of Extreme Poverty: Evidence from a multi-arm multi-country graduation program in the Sahel [link] | Kelsey Wright, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

  • Group versus Individual Coaching for Rural Social Protection Programs: Evidence from Uganda, Philippines, and Bangladesh [link] | Emily Beam, Associate Professor, University of Vermont

Day 2: Policy Day – March 31, 2026

 

Session 1: How to replicate and scale effective economic inclusion programs to improve jobs for the poor?

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Evidence highlights – Meta-analysis on impacts of graduation programs [link] [Google Drive link] | Dean Karlan, Professor of Economics, Northwestern University

 

Session 2: Designing economic inclusion programs to improve jobs for the poor

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Evidence highlights - Economic inclusion and jobs [link] | Benedetta Lerva, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

 

Session 3: Designing and delivering effective economic inclusion programs in FCV contexts

 

Video recording [here]

 

Presentations

  • Evidence highlights - Economic inclusion in FCV contexts [link] | Arlen Guarin, Economist, Development Impact, World Bank

 

Please see full agenda here.