Technologies that allow firms to monitor employees are becoming widespread. Westudy how these technologies affect informal contracts and firm productivity. Specifically, we introduce monitoring devices into commuter minibuses in Nairobi, Kenya, that track real-time vehicle driving behavior and daily productivity. We randomize which minibus owners have access to these monitoring data using a novel mobile app that we designed for the industry. We find that treated vehicle owners modify the terms of the contract to induce higher effort and lower risk-taking, which results in lower firm costs. To interpret these findings, we develop a relational contracting model that demonstrates how monitoring can improve the efficiency of the owner-driver contract. Structural estimation of the contract model via simulated method of moments suggests moderate welfare increases stemming from lower firm costs, although drivers are only partially compensated for the loss of their information rent.

Can agents in a social network be induced to obtain information from outside their peer groups? Using a field experiment in rural Bangladesh, we show that demonstration plots in agriculture - a technique where the first users of a new variety cultivate it in a side-by-side comparison with an existing variety - facilitate social learning by inducing conversations and information sharing outside of existing social networks. We compare these improvements in learning with those from seeding new technology with more central farmers in village social networks. The demonstration plots - when cultivated by randomly selected farmers - improve knowledge by just as much as seeding with more central farmers. Moreover, the demonstration plots only induce conversations and facilitate learning for farmers that were unconnected to entry points at baseline. Finally, we combine this diffusion experiment with an impact experiment to show that both demonstration plots and improved seeding transmit information to farmers that are less likely to benefit from the new innovation.