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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.

Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Through Cash Transfers in Mali

Melissa Hidrobo
Shalini Roy
Researchers evaluated the effect of an unconditional cash transfer program targeting mostly men on intimate partner violence in a context where nearly forty percent of households are polygamous. Polygamous households receiving the transfer experienced less physical and emotional violence, while...

The Impact of Social Program Targeting Strategies on Reported and Actual Asset Ownership in Indonesia

Researchers partnered with the Government of Indonesia to conduct a randomized evaluation that tested whether adding questions on flat-screen televisions and cellphone SIM cards to a targeting census would change people’s reporting and actual purchases of those items. The findings suggest that while...

The Impact of Mobile Money on the Purchase of Improved Sanitation Services in Senegal

Molly Lipscomb
The proliferation of mobile money across low- and middle-income countries has led to increased availability of mobile payment systems, which can potentially allow more flexible payment terms for customers. Subsidies increased the use of mechanized desludgings, while pre-paid deposit requirements had...

The Impact of a Quiz-Style Information Campaign on Covid-19 Prevention in Ghana

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

Providing Entrepreneurship Training and Cash Business Grants to Venezuelan Migrants in Peru

In Peru, researchers are delivering cash grants and business training to Venezuelan migrant entrepreneurs and assessing the impacts on the short- and long-term success of enterprises as well as migrants’ food security, health, and income.

Extending Health Insurance to the Informal Sector Through Microfinance in Nicaragua

Freddy Solis Diaz
Martha Azucena Gonzalez
Laurel Hatt
Mursaleena Islam
This evaluation measured the determinants of insurance enrollment as well as the impacts of having insurance for informal sector workers by randomly varying the costs and convenience of signing up for a government health insurance program available to formal and informal sector workers in Nicaragua...

Group Versus Individual Liability in the Philippines

Xavier Giné
In this study, researchers randomly selected existing group-lending centers to convert to an individual liability model. They found no difference in repayment rates between individuals assigned individual liability and those assigned group liability, no change in overall profitability for the bank...

Measuring the Impact of Microcredit on Borrowing and Business Outcomes in the Philippines

Researchers measured the impact of individual-liability microcredit on marginally creditworthy applicants in the Philippines. They found that increased access to microcredit expanded borrowing and improved risk management and sharing, but it also led clients to shrink their businesses.