Beatrice Montano

Welcome!

I am a PhD Candidate in Political Science at Columbia University.

My research focuses on the behavioral political economy of social norms, with a current emphasis on gender-based violence in East Africa. In my work I combine formal theory and experimental data with fieldwork-based insights in the context of global development.

My research has been published in The Journal of Politics and Comparative Political Studies. I have received support from the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), the U.S. Department of State’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons, and Columbia University's Libraries, among others.

In 2023 I was awarded Runner-Up as the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Gender Fellows, and in 2022 I was awarded the William T.R. Fox Fellowship in Political Science. I have been affiliated to the Laboratory for Effective Anti-Poverty Policies (LEAP) at Bocconi University since its inception in 2016, and to the Impact Evaluation Lab at the Economic Social Research Foundation (ESRF) of Tanzania since 2021.

I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University in Milan (Italy). Before joining Columbia, I worked as a field research assistant at the Research and Evaluation Unit for BRAC Uganda and as the research manager at the Altruistic Capital Lab at the Marshall Institute at the London School of Economics.

1. Narrative Entertainment Changes Minds: a Meta-Analysis of Recent Experiments
   with Bardia Rahmani, Donald P. Green and Dylan W. Groves
   
   Behavioural Public Policy (Accepted)
   [Ungated PDF]
   
   Abstract

   Is narrative entertainment simply a form of recreation, or does it have meaningful effects on public opinion? Building on prior reviews, we present a meta-analysis of 377 findings from 77 experiments evaluating the persuasive effects of narrative radio, television, and film, including a growing body of work from low- and middle-income countries. Our sample includes both entertainment-first narratives---popular media created primarily to entertain but which may incidentally shape audiences’ attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors---and education-first narratives designed by policymakers to inform, persuade, or motivate public action. Using a hierarchical-effects model, we assess narrative media’s influence across a wide range of settings and issue domains. The results suggest that narrative entertainment is quite influential, with sizable persuasive effects that remain apparent weeks after initial exposure. A smaller literature reports head-to-head tests of the relative effectiveness of narrative versus non-narrative messages; although inconclusive, the evidence suggests that narratives may be only slightly more persuasive than non-narrative messages. If true, this finding would imply that the main advantage of narratives may be their ability to attract and engage large and diverse audiences. We conclude by calling attention to gaps in the literature and proposing avenues for further research.

2. The Effects of Independent Local Radio on Tanzanian Public Opinion: Evidence from a Planned Natural Experiment
   with Donald P. Green, Dylan W. Groves, Constantine Manda and Bardia Rahmani
   
   The Journal of Politics, 86(1), 231-240. (2024)
   [DOI] [Ungated PDF] [Replication Data] [Tweet] [JOP Blog]
   
   Abstract

   We describe a natural experiment occasioned by an abrupt increase in the transmission range of an independent Tanzanian radio station whose broadcasts emphasize current affairs and gender equality. Some villages that formerly lay outside the catchment area of this radio station could now receive it, while nearby villages remained outside of reception range. Before the change in transmitter range in 2018, we conducted a baseline survey in both treated and untreated villages and found them to be similar in terms of prevailing social attitudes and political interest. An endline survey conducted in 2020 shows that respondents in areas that received the new radio signal were substantially more likely to listen to the station, and their levels of political interest and knowledge about domestic politics were significantly higher than their counterparts in villages that the signal could not reach. Attitude change on a range of gender issues, however, was sporadic.

3. A Radio Drama’s Effects on Attitudes Toward Early and Forced Marriage: Results From a Field Experiment in Rural Tanzania
   with Donald P. Green, Dylan W. Groves, Constantine Manda and Bardia Rahmani
   
   Comparative Political Studies, 56(8), 1115-1155. (2023)
   [DOI] [Ungated PDF] [Replication Data] [Tweet] [IPA Website]
   Abstract

   Early and forced marriage (EFM) is an increasing focus of international organizations and local non-government organizations. This study assesses the extent to which attitudes and norms related to EFM can be changed by locally tailored media campaigns. A two-hour radio drama set in rural Tanzania was presented to Tanzanian villagers as part of a placebo-controlled experiment randomized at the village level. A random sample of 1200 villagers was interviewed at baseline and invited to a presentation of the radio drama, 83% of whom attended. 95% of baseline respondents were re-interviewed two weeks later, and 97% 15 months after that. The radio drama produced sizable and statistically significant effects on attitudes and perceived norms concerning forced marriage, which was the focus of the radio drama, as well as more general attitudes about gender equality. Fifteen months later, treatment effects diminished, but we continue to see evidence of EFM-related attitude change.

• What women need: the public policy effect of patriarchy
  with Simone Paci and Chiara Superti
  [PDF: Spring 2025; Under Review]
  Abstract

  Even as male political leaders increasingly portray themselves as women's rights advocates, gender gaps in economic and political power persist. We propose that patriarchal norms significantly influence how male leaders understand "what women need" and, consequently, which "pro-women" policies they pursue. Widespread paternalism leads to protective measures focused on women's safety instead of emancipatory policies aimed at promoting economic independence. Examining Italian municipalities, we compare the effects of increased salience of gender issues on spending across towns with different historical patriarchal norms. In contexts with weak patriarchal norms, mayors with daughters allocate 11% more to emancipatory policies and 16% less to protective ones. In areas with strong patriarchal norms, they more than double protective policy investments while reducing emancipatory spending by 7%. Bolstering our argument, non-native mayors' policy choices reflect their hometown norms, while non-term-limited mayors demonstrate similar patterns. Cross-national survey evidence is also consistent: male respondents with daughters prefer protective policies in countries with stronger patriarchal norms, while emancipatory policies prevail in those with weaker norms.

• The persuasive power of Africa’s High Courts: evidence from Tanzania
  with Salma Emmanuel, Donald P. Green, Dylan W. Groves, Constantine Manda, and Bardia Rahmani
  [PDF: Fall 2024; Under Review]
  Abstract

  Do rulings by high courts influence social attitudes and perceived norms? Evidence from outside of industrialized democracies is scarce. This paper investigates the influence of a recent Tanzanian high court decision that laws permitting marriage for girls under the age of 18 are unconstitutional. We begin by showing that just 8\% of rural Tanzanians had heard about the ruling one year after it was made. We then report the results of a lab-in-the-field experiment to test whether media reports about the court's decision influence attitudes, perceived norms, and intentions to report early marriage to authorities. We randomly assigned 1,950 respondents in rural Tanzania to hear a radio news story about the ruling or to a control condition. Respondents who heard the report were 8 percentage points more likely to reject early marriage and 5 percentage points more likely to say they would report early marriage to authorities, but no more likely to believe their rural community rejects early marriage or to volunteer to speak out publicly against early marriage. The effect of the report attenuated but did not disappear when it included the information that Tanzania's Attorney General disagreed with the court decision. We conclude that high court rulings can influence public opinion, but these effects depend on dissemination and framing by news media.

• Narrative entertainment shapes policy priorities: evidence from four field experiments in Tanzania
  with Salma Emmanuel, Donald P. Green, Dylan W. Groves, Constantine Manda and Bardia Rahmani
  
  [PDF: Fall 2024]
  Abstract

  A growing body of work finds that entertainment-education interventions can influence attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, but few studies consider their effects on audiences' political preferences. We present results from a series of experiments conducted in Tanzania that estimate the impact of four radio dramas on how audiences prioritize protecting the environment, countering gender-based violence, reducing early forced marriage, and improving access to HIV treatment. Interviewing listeners 2-4 weeks after they were exposed to the drama, we find that three of the four dramas significantly increased listeners’ preference for hypothetical candidates promising to address the issue featured in the drama, and all four dramas elevated the perception that the issue represents a top priority for the community. Pooling across studies (N = 4,504), the effects of narrative messages on voting and prioritization persist more than 16 months after the audio screening and spill over to the spouses of audio screening attendees.

• Increasing awareness of Gender-Based Violence outside of the household: experimental evidence from a field experiment in rural Tanzania
  First Author; with Salma Emmanuel, Donald P. Green, Dylan W. Groves and Bardia Rahmani
  
  [PDF: Spring 2025]
  Abstract

  Nearly 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical and/or sexual violence, and still its prevalence is widely believed to be underestimated. While previous research focuses on Intimate Partner Violence, this paper shifts the attention to violence outside of the household. We provide one of the first detailed measurement of the perception of the risk that women face in public spaces in Sub-Saharian Africa, and of communities' intent to mobilize against perpetrators. Can media increase awareness of such risks and help prioritize GBV as a societal issue? Through a field experiment across 34 villages in rural Tanzania, we show that a locally-tailored radio soap-opera has the capacity to do so, and that its effects decay but are still detectable more than a year later. Moreover, we show how these changes spillover from audience members to their spouses and teenage children, magnifying the total effect of this easily scalable intervention.

• Radio dramas can build political support for environmental protection: experimental evidence from rural Tanzania
  with Bardia Rahmani, Salma Emmanuel, Donald P. Green and Dylan W. Groves
  
  [PDF: Fall 2024]
  Abstract

  Africa is highly vulnerable to climate change, yet voters in the region rarely prioritize environmental protection at the ballot box. Can media campaigns raise the political salience of environmental issues? We report the results of a placebo-controlled experiment conducted in Tanzania in which 1,360 respondents from 34 villages were randomly assigned to attend a screening of a radio drama designed to generate support for environmentalism. The drama follows rural villagers as they campaign against a corrupt bargain between developers and a public official to exploit the community's resources. Outcomes were assessed through a survey conducted one month later. Participants who were randomly exposed to the drama became more knowledgeable about climate change, more likely to cite environmental protection as a political priority, and more supportive of pro-environmental policies and candidates. A year later, treatment effects remain detectable for certain measures but decay for others, highlighting the importance of sustained messaging.

• Misperceptions of gender norms and political advocacy: experimental evidence from rural Tanzania
  Dissertation work
• Socialization through misperception: cross-generational gender attitudes in rural Tanzania
  Dissertation work
• Patriarchal norms and women's freedom of movement: experimental evidence from rural Tanzania
  Dissertation work.
  with Silvia Barbareschi and Stefano Tripodi
  
  Funding: Laboratory for Effective Anti-Poverty Policies (LEAP), Bocconi University, Student Grant ($4,000)
• Political and economic pathways to women long-term empowerment: historical evidence of gatekeeping from the Italian Resistance
  with Simone Paci and Chiara Superti
• Religious elite messaging and women’s political participation: evidence from a survey experiment in Tanzania
  with Salma Emmanuel, Dylan W. Groves, Francis Xavier Ngatigwa and Bardia Rahmani
• The effect of climate change news on public opinion about the environment: evidence from a survey experiment in Tanzania
  with Salma Emmanuel, Dylan W. Groves and Bardia Rahmani
• The effects of mass media on political and social attitudes: evidence from a radio distribution experiment in Tanzania
  with Donald P. Green, Dylan W. Groves, and Bardia Rahmani
  

• Youth’s civic duty: evidence from a field experiment in Tanzania
  with Salma Emmanuel and Dylan W. Groves
  
  Press Coverage: The Citizen Funding: Oxford Policy Management, Data and Evidence to end Extreme Poverty (DEEP), Tanzania Challenge Fund ($38,000)
• Leveraging religious leaders to counter human trafficking in rural Tanzania
  with Salma Emmanuel and Dylan W. Groves
  
  Project Website Funding: U.S. Department of State’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons and Innovation for Poverty Action (IPA), Human Trafficking Research Initiative ($13,000)
• Can media campaigns increase female voter turnout in Sub-Saharian Africa? Evidence from a large-scale field experiment
  with Dylan W. Groves, Donald P. Green, Elizabeth Levy Paluck, and Bardia Rahmani
  
  Funding: Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), Governance Initiative, Multidisciplinary Research ($30,000)
• Play Like a Girl: experimental evidence from women sports on gender attitudes
  with Julian E. Gerez
  
  Funding: Columbia Experimental Laboratory in the Social Sciences (CELSS), Columbia University, Seed Grant ($2,000) and Provost Diversity Fellows, Columbia University, Small Grants ($1,000)

• Teachers' prejudice: evidence from rural Tanzania (with Salma Emmanuel)
  Funding: Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), Learning for all Initiative ($9,000)
• Sauti na Ushiriki: political elite messaging and democratic attitudes in Tanzania (with Salma Emmanuel and Daniel B. Markovits)
  Funding: Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), University of California - Berkeley, West Africa Regional Hub ($3,000)