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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.

Understanding Borrowers' Decisions: Payday Loans in the United States

Researchers partnered with a large payday lender in Indiana to conduct an evaluation to better understand consumers’ decision-making. The results suggest that average borrowers can anticipate their probability of taking loans in the future. However, people focus too much on the present when making...

The impact of payments for ecosystem services on crop burning in India

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a PES program that offers financial rewards to paddy farmers for reducing burning of crop residue (or “stubble”) on stubble burning in Punjab, India.

Providing Primary Education for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Guinea Bissau

Peter Boone
Ila Fazzio
Jenny Hsieh
Robin Lumsdaine
Researchers evaluated the impact of creating schools offering four years of primary education, in lieu of the government, on early grade reading and math skills in rural Guinea Bissau. The intervention led to substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy.

Teachers' traditional beliefs about gender negatively impact the academic performance of girls in Turkey

Seda Ertac
Ipek Mumcu
To better understand gender inequalities in academic achievement, choice of occupation, and labor market outcomes, researchers studied the effect of teachers’ beliefs about gender roles on student achievement in Istanbul, Turkey. Girls who were taught by teachers with traditional gender views had...

School Meals, Educational Achievement and School Finance in Kenya

Christel Vermeersch
Researchers examined the effects of subsidized school meals on school participation, educational achievement, and school finance in Western Kenya. The results suggest that the meals program led to improved school participation, as well as higher curriculum test scores, but only in schools where the...

Interest Rate Sensitivity Among Village Banking Clients in Mexico

Researchers measured the impact of different interest rates loan take-up, amount, and repayment rates among female clients of Compartamos Banco in Mexico. Lower interest rates led to an increase in the number of loans issued, loan amounts, and new borrowers but did not increase profits in the short...

Flexible Repayment Schedules for Dairy Clients in India

This evaluation studies the effects of flexible repayment schedules on borrowers’ investment level, consumption, and loan default in the dairy industry in India.