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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.

Vocational Training for Improved Employability and Job Expectations in the Dominican Republic

Paloma Acevedo
Sebastián Martínez
Researchers introduced a soft skills component into a vocational training program in the Dominican Republic to assess the interaction between job and soft skills training on labor market outcomes and expectations. Women experienced increased employment rates and wages in the short term, which...

The Effects of Misperceptions of Social Norms on Female Labor Force Participation in Saudi Arabia

Researchers evaluated whether offering men in Saudi Arabia simple information on other men’s perceptions of female labor force participation impacts their willingness to let their wives join the labor force. Wives of men who received this information were significantly more likely to have applied...

Job Training and Matching to Increase Youth Employment in Egypt

Kevin Hempel
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to determine the impact of job matching, job training, and counseling programs on youth employment in Egypt. The job training programs improved labor market outcomes such as employment, particularly for women. However, the intervention did not have a...

Diffusion of Agricultural Information within Social Networks: Evidence on Gender Inequalities from Mali

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in Mali to study the role of giving information to different people within a network in the spread of that information. People who were social and more closely connected to those who were trained had more information. Female farmers were less likely to...

Reducing Job Search Costs with an SMS-based Messaging App in Rural Tanzania

Dahyeon Jeong
The researcher conducted a randomized evaluation in rural Tanzania to determine the impact of an SMS-based messaging app that connects agricultural workers and employers on wages. He found that the SMS-based messaging app reduced wage spread within villages–meaning employers paid a wage closer to...

The Impact of Personalized SMS Messages to Parents on Student Achievement in Kenya

Joost de Laat
Researchers are partnering with Bridge International Academies to evaluate the impact of an SMS-based information provision program on students’ learning outcomes in Kenya.