Blog

News

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.

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance in Hyderabad, India

Researchers evaluated the impact of increased access to microcredit on the economic and social well-being of women and their families in Hyderabad, India. They found that microcredit had mixed effects on business activities and little to no effect on women’s empowerment or children’s education.

The Psychology of Debt: An Experiment in the Philippines

Researchers are testing whether giving vendors money to pay off their outstanding debts or offering financial literacy trainings can help break these borrowers' cycles of debt.

Searching for a Better Way to Teach Children to Read in India

Fang He
Margaret McLeod
In three related evaluations in India, researchers introduced an early childhood reading and comprehension program (Shishuvachan) in different contexts—integrated into first-grade classes in Mumbai public schools, implemented in preschools that were specifically designed to implement this program...

Consulting and Capital Experiments with Microenterprise Tailors in Ghana

Researchers partnered with the consulting firm Ernst & Young to test whether providing tailors in Accra with individualized consulting, a sizable cash grant, or both can facilitate growth. Initially, tailors experimented with investments and management practices, but most learned overtime that these...

Agricultural Input Subsidies and Savings in Mozambique

Michael Carter
Researchers partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture in Mozambique to assess the impact of both vouchers and savings programs on smallholder farmers’ use of agricultural technologies and household well-being. The temporary subsidy for technology adoption increased use of fertilizer and improved...

Examining the Effect of Information about Financial Aid for Higher Education on Schooling Outcomes in Chile

Claudia Martinez
Researchers tested the effects of providing low-income students in urban Chile with information about financial aid for higher education on their educational attainment and their likelihood of progressing to higher education. A video informing students about financing higher education increased...

Identifying Information Asymmetries in a Consumer Credit Market in South Africa

Researchers sought to understand different types of information asymmetries and how they relate to loan default rates in South Africa. Borrowers given high interest rates had a greater incentive to default as it was more costly to repay the loan, but there was little evidence that borrowers...

The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Household Balance Sheets in the United States

David E. Broockman
Patrick Krause
Elizabeth Rhodes
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation testing the impact of monthly cash transfers of $1,000 to low-income individuals in Texas and Illinois on household expenditures, debts and assets, and financial health. The study found that receiving the cash transfer increased spending by $310 per...