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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.

Promoting Productive Inclusion and Resilience in National Safety Nets: A Four-Country Evaluation in the Sahel

Thomas Bossuroy
Markus Goldstein
Patrick Premand
Catherine Thomas
Julia Vaillant
Kelsey Wright
In partnership with country governments and the World Bank, the research team has been evaluating how different productive packages impact the wellbeing and economic stability of safety net beneficiaries in Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal. In Niger, a multi-faceted economic inclusion...

Women's Take-Up of Credit Versus Commitment Savings Products in Rural Pakistan

Uzma Afzal
Giovanna d'Adda
Farah Said
Saving money and borrowing money are often thought of as two very different financial behaviors. However, in many low- and middle-income countries people may use these products for the same reasons. The National Rural Support Programme in Pakistan and researchers randomly offered female microfinance...

The Effects of Working While in School in Uruguay

Researchers partnered with the government of Uruguay to evaluate the impact of a national youth employment program. The program increased participants’ earnings and school enrollment during and up to two years after the program, suggesting that work-study programs may ease students’ school-to-work...

The Effect of Behavioral Nudges via Mailed Letters on Subsidized Health Insurance Take-up

This study examined the impact of an administrative simplification and a series of behavioral nudges (all via letters sent by mail) on enrollment in subsidized health insurance plans. The administrative simplification, which provided a streamlined path to enrollment, had the largest effect on...

Biased Beliefs and the Dynamic Role of Information in College Choice in Chile

Claudia Allende
Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation in Chile to study the impact of altering high school students’ beliefs about the returns of college degrees on their decisions to invest in college preparation and which program they choose.

The Impact of Bid Training on Small Firm Growth in Liberia

Fei Ao
Vinayak Iyer
Golvine de Rochambeau
Researchers evaluated the impact of a bid training program on the business performance of local small and medium-sized firms. The bid training led firms to bid on and win more contracts, with the positive impacts concentrated on a quarter of firms.

Accelerating Changes in Norms about Social Distancing to Combat COVID-19

James Riddell IV
Tanya Rosenblat
Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluations to test the impact of different types of public health messaging on the practice of social distancing.

The Impact of a Peer Information Sharing Strategy to Combat the Spread of Covid-19 in Zambia

Researchers are measuring the impact of a peer information sharing strategy on people’s learning and adherence to Covid-19 health protocols. This study is part of a three-country research program in Zambia, Ghana, and the US aiming to find evidence on the most effective strategies to communicate...