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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.

Providing information on wood heating to decrease indoor air pollution in France

Coralie Chevallier
Elise Huillery
Mathieu Perona
Rita Abdel Sater
Researchers evaluated the impact of general and personalized information regarding the relationship between wood burning and indoor pollution on households’ knowledge of pollution and their pollution mitigation efforts. Both general and personalized information increased households’ awareness of...

Cash Transfers and Management Advice for Farmers in Senegal

In Senegal, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to study the effect of providing management advice and a one-time cash transfer on agricultural productivity and farmers’ investment in their businesses. Receiving both the cash transfer and management advice had positive impacts on yields...

The Effect of Bureaucrat Performance Scorecards on Service Delivery and Bribes in Bangladesh

Researchers evaluated the impact of performance scorecards on the speed of delivery and the payment of bribes. Results show that the intervention increased on-time service delivery, but did not decrease bribe payments on average; bribes among high-performers increased.

The Impact of Mobile-Based Market Information on Informal Cross-Border Trading in Kenya and Uganda

Eleanor Wiseman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether reducing information disparities by giving access to critical market information through a mobile phone platform would improve traders’ profits and decrease incidences of corruption and bribery. Access to the mobile phone platform...

Integration through Friendship—Evidence from a Peer Matching Program in Sweden

Increasing levels of migration to the European Union have created significant challenges for governments to ensure migrants fully integrate and thrive in their host societies, but there is little rigorous evidence that evaluates current programs that promote social inclusion. Researchers are...

Extending Health Insurance to the Informal Sector Through Microfinance in Nicaragua

Freddy Solis Diaz
Martha Azucena Gonzalez
Laurel Hatt
Mursaleena Islam
This evaluation measured the determinants of insurance enrollment as well as the impacts of having insurance for informal sector workers by randomly varying the costs and convenience of signing up for a government health insurance program available to formal and informal sector workers in Nicaragua...

The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Household Balance Sheets in the United States

David E. Broockman
Patrick Krause
Elizabeth Rhodes
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation testing the impact of monthly cash transfers of $1,000 to low-income individuals in Texas and Illinois on household expenditures, debts and assets, and financial health. The study found that receiving the cash transfer increased spending by $310 per...

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance in Hyderabad, India

Researchers evaluated the impact of increased access to microcredit on the economic and social well-being of women and their families in Hyderabad, India. They found that microcredit had mixed effects on business activities and little to no effect on women’s empowerment or children’s education.