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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.

Read India: Helping Primary School Students in India Acquire Basic Reading and Math Skills

Rukmini Banerji
Michael Walton
Researchers partnered with Pratham, an educational NGO, to evaluate the impact of their “Read India” program and its components, which include teacher training, monitoring, learning materials, and village volunteers, on educational attainment. Preliminary results suggest the program had a modest...

Educational Returns of Boarding Schools for Underserved Secondary School Children in France

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of boarding schools on educational outcomes and well-being for children with disadvantaged backgrounds in France. The top third of students admitted to France’s first “boarding school of excellence” had large improvements in math...

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...

Encouraging Adoption of Rainwater Harvesting Tanks Through Collateralized Loans in Kenya

In partnership with Nyala Dairy Cooperative, researchers evaluated the impact of offering asset collateralized loans for rainwater harvesting tanks on both credit access for dairy farmers and profitability for the lender. Using the tanks as loan collateral led to higher take-up of loans by farmers...

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...

Teaching Savings Practices to Ugandan Youth

In Uganda, researchers evaluated whether offering financial education or group savings accounts to church-based youth groups increased savings. One year after the intervention ended, they found that total savings and income had increased among youth who were offered financial education, group...

The Role of Financial Incentives in Recruiting Public Sector Employees

The ability and integrity of civil servants can have important consequences for the lives of the poor. Researchers analyzed the impact of financial incentives and characteristics of the work environment on attracting qualified applicants to Mexico’s public sector. Offering higher wages attracted...