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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.

The Impact of Cash Transfers on Delivery Planning and Maternal Care Quality in Kenya

Ginger Golub
Margaret E Kruk
Katherine Lofgren
George N. Omondi
Claire Rothschild
Researchers evaluated whether cash transfers and decision-making nudges could help low-income pregnant women in Nairobi, Kenya deliver where they wanted and in a high-quality facility. They found that cash transfers, conditioned on precommitment to a delivery facility, led to more effective birth...

Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through Savings Goal Setting and SMS Reminders in Paraguay

Viviane Azevedo
Liliana Olarte
Researchers evaluated the impact of a range of tablet-based savings activities—designed to remind users to save and support goal-setting—on savings behavior of low- and middle-income individuals in Paraguay. Combining savings goal setting and text reminders increased savings behavior, but each...

The Impact of Case Management on Community College Persistence and Graduation in the United States

At a community college in Fort Worth, Texas, researchers evaluated a comprehensive case management program called Stay the Course, which included mentoring and emergency financial assistance (EFA), and measured the impact of these services on students’ academic outcomes, including persistence in...

Rapid Re-Housing to Reduce Homelessness in the United States

Researchers are evaluating the impact of rapid re-housing on homelessness and health outcomes for single adult individuals.

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 Different Messaging Strategies on Tax Compliance in Belgium

Maarten Luts
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
Teodora Tsankova
Researchers partnered with the tax authority in Belgium to understand what types of messages drive people to comply with their taxes. Results show that simplified messages, as well as messages that highlighted the consequences of non-compliance, induced people to file and pay their taxes sooner. On...

Changing Politicians’ Responsiveness through the Provision of Voter Information in Pakistan

Asad Liaqat
Uninformed elected leaders or voters can negatively affect political accountability, such as decision-making on what and how public services are delivered to citizens. The researcher partnered with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party in Lahore to evaluate the demand and responsiveness of local...