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.

Community Policing, Citizen Feedback, and Public Trust in Pakistan

Ali Hasanain
It is unclear whether a gender-differentiated intervention may be more effective in reducing some or all types of crime. To better understand this issue, researchers are working with the local police force in two districts in Pakistan to study its effects on trust levels and occurrence of crime.

The Impact of Role Models on Parental Aspirations and Investments in Children's Education in Ethiopia

Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether exposing people to a documentary featuring potential role models impacted parents’ educational aspirations for their children or their actual investments in education, and if these impacts varied by gender. Exposing families to the...

Improving Tax Compliance through Behavioral Messages in Latvia

Nina Mazar
Iman Sen
In partnership with the Latvian tax authority, researchers tested several types of emails to investigate the effect of behaviorally-informed messages on tax compliance. Messages that aimed to deter bad behavior by highlighting taxpayers’ moral obligations towards action increased on-time tax...

Cash Transfers During a Pandemic: Evidence from a Kenyan Slum

Terence Johnson
Jackline Oluoch-Aridi
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing cash transfers to female entrepreneurs during the pandemic on their business outcomes and behavior. Firm profit, inventory spending, and food expenditures all increased for business owners that received the cash transfer...

The Impact of Information on Preferences for Allocating Land in Nepal

Bhishma Bhusal
Abraham Holland
Researchers introduced a randomized information intervention to see if providing information on how different allocation methods work would shift the preferences of beneficiaries of a Nepalese land allocation program. On average, the information intervention did not change preferences for how land...

Primary School Deworming in Kenya

Researchers evaluated a mass school-based deworming program in Western Kenya, and found that deworming substantially improved health and school participation of treated children, as well as of untreated children in both treatment schools and neighboring schools. The program reduced school...

Free Distribution or Cost Sharing? Evidence from a Malaria Prevention Experiment in Kenya

Researchers investigated the impact of the price of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) on usage and demand in Kenya. Researchers found that cost-sharing considerably dampened demand, and those who were left out under a cost-sharing scheme had very high usage rates when they could access the product...

The Impact of Community-Based Testing and Free Condom Distribution on HIV Prevention Among Youth in Kenya

Grace Makana Barasa
Moses Baraza
In Western Kenya, researchers evaluated the impact of two preventive approaches—community-based testing and free condom provision—on behavioral and biological outcomes. Neither community-based testing, free condoms, nor these interventions offered together reduced the prevalence of sexually...