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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 Loans on the Survival and Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Colombia

Ana Maria Montoya
Eric Parrado
In Colombia, researchers are evaluating the economic impact of providing stimulus loans to SMEs, distributed via the government’s COVID-19 relief program (“Unidos por Colombia”), on SME survival, profits, and employment.

The Role of Information and Preferences in School Choices in Romania

Robert Ainsworth
Rajeev Dehejia
Miguel Urquiola
In this randomized evaluation in Romania, researchers compared the roles of preferences and information in households’ decision-making, with regard to high school selection. Results suggest that households provided with information on school quality tend to choose schools that have a greater...

Leveraging Local Governments to Support Rice Mechanization in India

Steven Brownstone
Working with local government leaders and agricultural extension agents, the researcher is conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of promoting a mechanization technology. Uniquely, the researcher will closely track how employment shifts for women who formerly did the mechanized work.

Providing Conditional Cash Transfers to Encourage Childhood Immunization in Pakistan

Sara Abdullah
Danya Arif
Subhash Chandir
Aamir Khan
In Pakistan, researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of different types of mobile conditional cash transfers (mCCTs) on childhood immunization coverage and timeliness. Overall, small mCCTs led to increases in rates of immunization coverage at a low administrative cost. Additionally...

Encouraging Teacher Attendance through Monitoring with Cameras in Rural Udaipur, India

Stephen Ryan
This study estimated the effect of financial incentives on teacher attendance on students' attendance and math and language levels. The incentives increased teacher attendance and teaching time, and student test scores rose as a result.

Credit with Health Insurance: Evidence from the Philippines

Researchers are examining the impact of offering health insurance through a microfinance institution on clients’ health behaviors and health outcomes, as well as on the institution’s profit, client retention, and default rates.

Cash Transfers for Education in Morocco

Najy Benhassine
Victor Pouliquen
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a cash transfer program in Morocco to estimate the impact on attendance and enrollment of a “labeled cash transfer” (LCT): a small cash transfer made to parents of school-aged children in poor rural communities, not conditional on school attendance...

Extra Contract Teachers in Andhra Pradesh, India

Venkatesh Sundararaman
Researchers evaluated the impact of hiring extra contract teachers in primary schools in India on student learning. Results show that students in schools with an extra contract teacher performed significantly better than those in comparison schools in both math and language areas. Evidence also...