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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.

Social Incentives and Tax Compliance in Bangladesh

Monica Singhal
Researchers studied the impact of an innovative taxpayer recognition program that appealed to business owners’ desires for social recognition on firms’ value-added tax (VAT) compliance and payment rates in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Preliminary results suggested that in areas where some firms were already...

Disrupting Education? Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India

Researchers evaluated a computer-based adaptive learning platform (Mindspark) for secondary school students in urban India to measure the impact of customized learning technology on student test scores. The program increased test scores across all groups of students and was cost-effective compared...

Sequencing Two Early Childhood Interventions Back-to-Back in India

Britta Augsburg
Jere Behrman
Monimalika Day
Sally Grantham-McGregor
Prachi Gupta
Pamela Jervis
Prerna Makkar
Rashim Pal
Angus Phimister
Marta Rubio-Codina
Nisha Vernekar
Researchers evaluated the impact of immediately following up an early childhood development intervention for one-to-three-year-old children with a second intervention for three-to-six-year-olds. The early and late interventions each increased IQ and school readiness for children, although there was...

The Impact of Diagnostic Feedback for Teachers on Student Learning in India

Venkatesh Sundararaman
Researchers evaluated whether providing low-stakes diagnostic tests and feedback to teachers led to improved student learning outcomes in India. They found that teachers in intervention schools exerted more effort when observed in the classroom but students in these schools performed no better on...

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...

Disseminating Flood Warnings to Increase Disaster Preparedness in India

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing flood early warnings to rural households through smartphone alerts and community volunteers on their flood preparedness and responsiveness, as well as post-flood health and economic outcomes.

Encouraging Voters to Pay Attention to Local Development Issues

Researchers evaluated the impact of sharing information via street theater on voters' preferences. The study found that some types of information increased voter turnout, and some voters changed their preferences.