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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.

Teaching Students Perspective-taking to Mitigate Social Exclusion of Refugee Children in Turkey

Researchers partnered with the Ministry of Education in Turkey to conduct a randomized evaluation of Understanding Each Other, a program which aims to foster social cohesion through perspective-taking activities that encourage students to consider others’ perspectives. They found that the program...

The Impact of Existing Account Usage on the Likelihood of Switching Accounts in Malawi

Xavier Giné
Researchers partnered with a local bank to learn how customers chose between two account types—an account that had been offered for many years, which carried high monthly fees but no individual transaction costs, or a new type of account that charged for each withdrawal but did not impose monthly...

Applying Behavioral Insights to Improve Tax Enforcement in Poland

Nina Mazar
Roberto Claudio Sormani
In partnership with the Polish Tax Office, researchers conducted a nation-wide randomized evaluation to test the impact of sending tax enforcement letters with behavioral messages on tax compliance among delinquent taxpayers. The results indicate that behavioral letters significantly improved tax...

Reducing Gender Differences in Financial Literacy and Confidence in Israel

Moses Shayo
Researchers evaluated the impacts of increased exposure to financial markets on participants’ financial literacy and investment behavior in Israel, and found it reduced the gender gap in financial literacy and confidence. They found that engaging in financial markets increased participants'...

The Impact of a Public Sector Management Program on Student Learning Outcomes in India

In India, researchers evaluated the impact of a public sector management program involving comprehensive assessments of schools, detailed school ratings, and customized school improvement plans, on school functioning and student learning. Researchers found that the MPSQA program was successful in...

Offering Cash and In-Kind Transfers to Grow and Sustain Microenterprises in Sri Lanka

Researchers provided small one-time grants to microenterprises in Sri Lanka to measure the impact of the additional capital on business profits two and five years later. They found that cash and in-kind grants increased business profits for male owners in the short and long term, but did not lead to...

The Impact of Discounting the Cost of Medicine on Overprescriptions in Mali

Carolina Lopez
Researchers varied patients’ information about a discount on treatment for simple malaria and measuring take-up of treatment to identify the factors driving overtreatment. While patient pressure on doctors in response to the discount led to excess prescription of antimalarials, there was no evidence...

Does EdTech Substitute for Traditional Learning? The Impact of Computer-Assisted Learning in Russia

Anastasia Kapuza
Elena Kardanova
Andrey Zakharov
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to evaluate the impact of computer-assisted learning (CAL) on student test scores. The CAL program improved students’ math and language test scores, but increasing the time students spent on CAL did not lead to additional gains.