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Browse news articles about J-PAL and our affiliated professors, and read our press releases and monthly global and research newsletters. For media inquiries, please email us.

Impact of school-based training on social cohesion for immigrant children in Finland

Matti Sarvimaki
Mikko Silliman
Marco Tabellini
Researchers partnered with a local non-profit, Walter, to evaluate the effectiveness of two school-based social cohesion interventions for immigrants’ children in Finnish schools.

Building Effective, Resilient, and Trusted Police Organizations in Mexico City

Rodrigo Canales
In this multi-part study, researchers, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Security of Mexico City and the National Security Commission, are evaluating how police organizations in Mexico City can be more effective, resilient, and trusted.

The Impact of Reframing Large Debt Burdens into Smaller Goals on Reducing Debt in the United States

Jeremy Burke
Researchers have partnered with a non-profit debt management provider and IPA to evaluate whether reframing difficult, long-lasting tasks, such as paying off large debts, into more easily-attainable “sub-goals” can help borrowers accomplish their goals of debt repayment and increase client retention...

Targeted Information for The Adoption of Flood-Tolerant Rice in India

Manzoor H. Dar
Eleanor Wiseman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the effect of providing information and experimental kits of an improved variety of flood-tolerant rice, Swarna-Sub1 or SS1, to agro-dealers on adoption rates among their customers. Overall, informing agro-dealers and providing them with seeds...

Digital Monitoring and Health Service Provision in Sierra Leone

In many countries, rural populations access social services through decentralized systems that hire community-based workers with high monitoring needs, leaving little time for supervisors to perform other essential functions. Researchers are evaluating the impact of a phone-based e-monitoring app...

The Impact of Diagnostic Feedback for Teachers on Student Learning in India

Venkatesh Sundararaman
Researchers evaluated whether providing low-stakes diagnostic tests and feedback to teachers led to improved student learning outcomes in India. They found that teachers in intervention schools exerted more effort when observed in the classroom but students in these schools performed no better on...

Farmers and the Fear of Crime: Improving Agricultural Productivity through Farm Protection in Kenya

Julian Dyer
In Kenya, researchers matched farmers with subsidized, trained watchmen to evaluate the effect of improved farm security on farmers’ decision-making, agricultural productivity, and conflict with neighbors. Security was shown to increase and in response, farmers made different cropping, time use, and...

Flexible Loan Contracts for Microentrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Marianna Battaglia
Andreas Madestam
In Bangladesh, researchers partnered with BRAC to evaluate the impact of repayment flexibility in loan contracts for microentrepreneurs. Repayment flexibility benefited traditional microfinance borrowers primarily through the provision of insurance, enabling riskier investments at lower default...