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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.

Responses to Degree of Control over Remittances in El Salvador

Diego Aycinena
Claudia Martinez
Researchers partnered with Banco Agrícola to conduct a randomized evaluation that offered a way for Salvadoran migrants to directly channel some fraction of their remittances into savings accounts in El Salvador. Results indicate that a desire for control over remittance uses—in particular the...

The Impact of Employment and Cash Transfers on Psychosocial Wellbeing in Bangladesh

Erin Kelley
Fatima Zahra
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of employment on refugee psychosocial well-being in Bangladesh. The study found that employment generated significant psychosocial value beyond that from cash transfers alone.

Financial and Informational Barriers to Migration in the Philippines

David McKenzie
In the Philippines, researchers tested several interventions designed to ease informational, job search, and documentation barriers to working overseas. They found that some interventions increased the number of participants who searched for work or acquired passports, but none led to increases in...

What is the Impact of Housing Microfinance and Construction Quality Support? A Rigorous Impact Evaluation

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing microloans for housing to the underprivileged in the Menia governorate on the improvement of families' well-being.

The Impact of Alternative Fundraising Schemes on Charitable Giving in Germany

Steffen Huck
Andrew Shephard
Researchers partnered with the Munich Opera House to conduct a randomized evaluation measuring the impact of a large-scale mail fundraising scheme on the frequency and amount of donations. While neither the presence of a lead donor nor differences in matching schemes affected the response rate to...

Changing Handwashing Behavior with Edutainment in Bangladesh

Kailash Pandey
Chikako Yamauchi
Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of a hand-hygiene edutainment (entertainment education) campaign on handwashing and health in Bangladesh. The campaign improved handwashing and child health but had no impact on hygiene knowledge.

Using Alarm Boxes to Combine Commitment and Reminders for Savings in Bolivia

In Bolivia, researchers investigated whether alarm boxes, designed to both remind people to save and to keep their savings safe, could have an effect on savings rates among microfinance clients.

Smoothing the Cost of Education: Micro-Savings in Ugandan Primary Schools

In Uganda, researchers tested whether a school-based savings program reduced dropout rates by enabling students and their families to save for school-related expenses. A version of the program that labeled savings for educational purposes, rather than fully committing money to educational expenses...