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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.

The Impact of Emergency Cash Assistance in a Pandemic

Pablo Querubin
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Colombia to assess the effects of emergency cash assistance on the well-being of households. Recipients of the UCT experienced improved financial health, food access, and psychological well-being. Colombia’s newly implemented mobile money system...

Intensive Case Management to Overcome Barriers to Self-Sufficiency in the United States

Researchers are working with the City of Rochester and local social service providers to evaluate the Bridges to Success program, in which participants are paired with mentors who help them move towards economic self-sufficiency.

Decreasing Mobile Money Vendor Misconduct through Information Sharing in Ghana

In Ghana, researchers evaluated the impact of providing vendors and consumers with information on official mobile money charges and options for recourse for consumers to report being overcharged. The program led to a decrease in misconduct, which in turn facilitated an increase in market activity...

Individualized Reminders to Increase Teacher Loan Forgiveness Uptake in the United States

Benjamin J. Keys
Researchers are working with Innovations for Poverty Action to study the effects of behavioral "nudges" that encourage teachers to enroll in loan forgiveness programs on program enrollment, teacher retention, and household finance.

Does Additional Labor Benefit Microenterprises? Evidence from Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, researchers provided wage subsidies to randomly chosen microenterprises to determine if they would hire more workers, and whether the additional labor would benefit such firms. The study found that while firms increased employment during the subsidy period, there was no lasting impact...

The Impact of Community-Based Environmental Health Promotion Program on Child Health in Western Rwanda

Thomas Clasen
Erin Crossett
Karen Grepin
Leodomir Mfura
Bernard Ngabo Rwabufigiri
Wolf-Peter Schmidt
Sheela Sinharoy
Ronald Wendt
In western Rwanda, researchers evaluated the impact of community health clubs on household take-up of healthy behaviors and on the health of children under 5 years of age. The program had minimal impact on household behaviors and no impact on caregiver-reported rates of diarrhea among children under...

Positive Psychology for Psychological Well-Being and Decision-Making in Kenya

In Kenya, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a light-touch positive psychology intervention on psychological well-being and economic decision-making for low-income populations. The intervention had a positive impact on gratitude; however, it had no significant...

The Impact of Financial Education for Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore

Rashmi Barua
Kartini Shastry
Researchers evaluated the impact of a financial literacy program for Filipino domestic workers based in Singapore on their financial knowledge, behavior, savings, and remittances. While there was no evidence that being invited to join the program had any impact on financial knowledge or behavior...