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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.

Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan

Businesses may be slow to adopt a new technology even when it offers clear benefits. Researchers introduced a new fabric cutting technology to a randomly selected group of soccer ball manufacturers in Pakistan, but very few firms adopted it. They hypothesized that the most likely explanation for low...

Educational Vouchers and Altruism in the United States

Robert Slonim
Researchers studied the impact of private school vouchers on the altruism, or selfless concern for others, of children and their parents. Voucher recipients demonstrated more altruism towards charitable organizations, but not towards their peers.

Using Technology to Promote Electoral Participation in South Africa

Karen Ferree
Clark Gibson
Danielle Jung
James Long
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of the VIP:Voice, a digital election participation platform, to measure the impact of information and communications technologies on individuals’ political participation. Via the platform, researchers interacted with nearly 100,000 citizens, recruited...

The Effects of Reciprocity in Voter Mobilization Calls on Voter Turnout in the United States

Albert Fang
Gregory A. Huber
Catlan Reardon
Researchers evaluated the role of reciprocity in increasing voter turnout through voter mobilization calls by varying whether an initial phone call included a plausible sign of good will by the campaign—an offer to follow up reminding them to vote.

Reducing Voter Registration Costs in France

Celine Braconnier
Jean-Yves Dormagen
Researchers evaluated the impact of making voter registration easier on voter participation by providing information about voter registration and home registration visits. Overall, the results suggest that information and visits can encourage greater participation, particularly among groups that...

The Impacts of Recruiting Committee Gender Composition on Women's Employment Outcomes in Spain

Berta Esteve-Volart
If female managers are more likely to hire women, gender-balanced hiring committees may help promote parity in the long run. Using data from public examinations to enter the Spanish judiciary, researchers found that female candidates were less likely to succeed in the public examinations when...

The Impact of Subsidized Employment on Employment Outcomes in Michigan, United States

Elisabeth Gerber
H. Luke Shaefer
In an ongoing study, researchers are testing whether a subsidized employment program for low-income adults with less than a high school degree in Michigan can improve employment opportunities and earnings while reducing public benefit receipt.