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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.

Housing Lottery to Increase Demand for Formal Government Housing and Improve Welfare in Ethiopia

In low- to middle-income countries around the world, nearly one billion people lived in urban informal settlements as of 2018. Rapid urbanization in most large African cities has led to both more people and a higher proportion of people living in informal settlements over time. Researchers conducted...

Impact of Loans and Grants on Microenterprise Growth in Egypt

Mohamed El Komi
In partnership with three microfinance institutions (MFIs), researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of providing loans, cash grants, or in-kind grants on microentrepreneurs’ business decisions, outcomes, and overall welfare. All three types of capital assistance led to...

The Impact of a Digital Credit for Small-Scale Farmers in Ghana

Researchers are evaluating the impact of an innovative mobile phone-based digital finance program on loan repayment rates, investment decisions, savings, and use of other financial services, as well as agricultural yields and profits.

Sequencing Two Early Childhood Interventions Back-to-back in India

Britta Augsburg
Jere Behrman
Monimalika Day
Sally Grantham-McGregor
Prachi Gupta
Prerna Makkar
Rashim Pal
Angus Phimister
Marta Rubio-Codina
Nisha Vernekar
Researchers evaluated the impact of immediately following up an early childhood development intervention for one-to-three-year-old children with a second intervention for three-to-six-year-olds. The early and late interventions each increased IQ and school readiness for children, although there was...

Building Trust in Fertilizer Quality Among Farmers in Tanzania

Annemie Maertens
Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of an information campaign about fertilizer quality on farmers’ beliefs and their purchase and use of fertilizer. The information campaign led farmers to change their beliefs about the quality of fertilizer available in local markets and to buy...

Training Teachers in Curiosity-Based Science Pedagogy in India

Ariel Gomez
Vinay Jha
Santosh Kumar
Sandeep Kumar
Nishith Prakash
Soham Sahoo
Despite making great strides in expanding access to education, developing countries like India continue to lag in measures of actual student learning. To understand how quality of education mediates learning, this randomized control trial evaluates a pedagogical intervention training science...

Building Footbridges to Improve Market Access and Agricultural Outcomes in Rwanda

In partnership with Bridges to Prosperity, the researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation across 23 districts in Rwanda to determine the impact of building footbridges on wages and agricultural technology adoption and production.