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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.

Marketing Rainfall Insurance in India

Sarthak Gaurav
Jeremy Tobacman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing financial literacy education alongside various marketing strategies to small-scale farmers in Gujarat, India, on their demand for rainfall index insurance. Financial education had a significant effect on adoption of...

Mobile Money Usage and Expectations of Violence in Afghanistan

Joshua Blumenstock
Researchers evaluated the relationship between mobile money usage and violence in Afghanistan. Results suggest that access to a mobile salary payment system increased mobile money usage, but expectations of violence significantly decreased usage and increased cash savings instead.

Promoting Intercaste Harmony Through Sports

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of cricket teams in rural India to identify whether team composition could improve intergroup harmony. Collaborative contact between cricket players of different castes reduced prejudice toward members of lower castes and increased cross-caste...

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.

Demand for Nontraditional Cookstoves in Bangladesh

Robert Bailis
Puneet Dwivedi
Lynn Hildemann
In Bangladesh, researchers evaluated how varying husband-wife dynamics, information, and prices could affect purchases of widely available “improved” stoves, which substantially reduce indoor air pollution. They found that women have stronger preferences for improved stoves than their husbands, but...

Impact of Rainfall Insurance on Farmer Behavior in India

Xavier Giné
James Vickery
In India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test how the provision of rainfall index insurance affected farmer production decisions, focusing on the decision to grow cash crops. They found that providing insurance led farmers to shift production towards higher-risk, higher-return cash...

Impact of Financial Control on Women's Labor Supply and Gender Norms in India

Researchers worked with local banks and the state government of Madhya Pradesh to provide women with their own bank accounts, training on how to use them, and direct deposit of wages earned through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to measure the impact of...