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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.

The Impact of Citizen Monitoring on the 2019 Mayoral Elections in Colombia

Mateo Montenegro
Researchers evaluated the impact of encouraging citizen monitoring on the 2019 mayoral elections in Colombia. The intervention resulted in higher reports from citizens and a reduction in observed irregularities in the election.

Quantifying Racial Discrimination in Major US Housing Markets

Researchers conducted a correspondence study assessing property managers’ responses to rental listing inquiries from prospective tenants with distinctively Black, Hispanic/Latinx, or white names in the United States. Property managers were significantly less likely to respond to messages from...

Smart Meters: Do Prices Matter to Their Adoption and Do They Save Energy?

Michael Price
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of financial incentives on the take-up of energy-efficient smart meters and subsequent energy use in partnership with British Gas. While offering incentives increased smart meter adoption, customers did not reduce their energy...

Improving Brick Manufacturing in Bangladesh to Promote Clean Air and Better Health

Shoeb Ahmed
Debashish Biswas
Nina Brooks
Steven Luby
Moogdho Mahzab
Sameer Maithel
Mahbubur Rahman
M. Rofi Uddin
Researchers evaluated the impact of trainings for brick kiln owners and operators on air pollution, CO2 emissions, and kiln profitability.

Extending Health Insurance to the Informal Sector Through Microfinance in Nicaragua

Freddy Solis Diaz
Martha Azucena Gonzalez
Laurel Hatt
Mursaleena Islam
This evaluation measured the determinants of insurance enrollment as well as the impacts of having insurance for informal sector workers by randomly varying the costs and convenience of signing up for a government health insurance program available to formal and informal sector workers in Nicaragua...

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance in Hyderabad, India

Researchers evaluated the impact of increased access to microcredit on the economic and social well-being of women and their families in Hyderabad, India. They found that microcredit had mixed effects on business activities and little to no effect on women’s empowerment or children’s education.

Information and Gender Differences in University Economics Courses and Majors in the United States

Daniel Halim
Elizabeth T. Powers
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing information to students on their decision to pursue courses and majors in economics at a public university in the United States. The intervention increased male students' likelihood of studying additional economics courses...