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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.

Property Tax Experiment in Punjab, Pakistan: Testing the Role of Wages, Incentives, and Audits on Tax Inspectors' Behavior

Researchers conducted a two-year randomized evaluation of incentive schemes for tax officials in Punjab, Pakistan that found performance pay significantly increased tax revenues without harming taxpayer satisfaction.

Household Risk Strategies and Conditional Cash Transfers in Nicaragua

Patrick Premand
Renos Vakis
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the effect of a basic CCT program, as well as two complementary interventions, on households’ vulnerability to irregular weather patterns. Providing households with vocational training or capital grants to generate non-agricultural income helps...

The Impact of Disclosing Soft Skills Certificates at Recruitment on Labor Market Outcomes in Uganda

Aisha Nansamba
In Uganda, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing a soft skills certificate to both employers and job seekers during job interviews on matching in the labor market. The certificates caused workers to increase their expectations of finding the right job, while...

The Effect of Information and Subsidies on Chlorine Usage in Zambia

Emir Kamenica
Informational campaigns and price subsidies are common ways to increase the use of health products in developing countries, but little is known about the effect of combining these tools. In Zambia, researchers investigated whether households’ demand for chlorine at varying subsidy levels was...

Combating Misinformation using Fact-Checking via WhatsApp in South Africa

Jeremy Bowles
Kevin Croke
John Marshall
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to assess how fact-checks regularly sent to participants through WhatsApp can affect their ability to discern false information, as well as their beliefs and attitudes related to topics subject to viral misinformation, particularly Covid-19. Overall, the...

Impact of Information on the Returns to Education on the Demand for Schooling in the Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic, researchers investigated families’ perceptions of the returns to education and whether providing information on the actual returns to education would change their schooling decisions. They found that students significantly underestimated the returns to secondary education...

Financial Training for Mineworkers in South Africa

Jeremy Shapiro
Kartini Shastry
Financial access in South Africa has expanded rapidly in recent years and policymakers have identified financial education as a means to improve financial literacy and inclusion. To test this, researchers evaluated the impact of a financial literacy workshop on miners’ financial understanding...

Using Media to Change Norms and Behaviors in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Rwanda to examine how important aspects of cultural practice do or do not change in the wake of exposure to media messages delivered through a radio soap opera drama. While the radio program had little effect on changing individual beliefs and...