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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.

Soft Skills Training for Supervisors to Boost Productivity and Worker Satisfaction in India

Identifying and training effective managers is crucial for improving both firm productivity and worker well-being. Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different combinations of managerial screening and training tools on business and worker well-being outcomes.

Improving Productivity Through Soft Skills Training for Female Workers in the Ready-made Garment Industry in India

Researchers found that, for female sewing workers in the largest private garment exporter in India, participating in a training program improved their soft skills and productivity and the firm experienced high financial returns.

The Impact of Women’s Employment and Control over Income on Family Planning in Rural India

In rural India, researchers are testing whether helping women access public employment and receive wages through direct deposit into individual bank accounts can increase their chances of being employed, their control over earnings, and ultimately their family planning decisions.

The Effects of Middle School Scholarships on Child Marriage in Niger

Elise Huillery
Mathilde Sage
Government ministries introduced middle school scholarships to cover girls’ transportation, housing, and supplies; researchers evaluated how paying for out-of-pocket expenses affected schooling impacts and child marriage. The researchers found that the intervention reduced girls’ chance of leaving...

Costs of Failure to Appear for Arraignment

Natalia Emanuel
Helen Ho
Researchers will conduct a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different types of notifications on rates of failure to appear in traffic and criminal misdemeanor courts.

Improving the Targeting of Preventive Health Subsidies through Vouchers in Western Kenya

Vivian Hoffman
Alix Peterson Zwane
In Western Kenya, researchers compared three different approaches to subsidizing dilute chlorine solution to treat drinking water: a partial subsidy, a twelve month supply of free chlorine through monthly vouchers, and a twelve month supply of free chlorine hand-delivered. Safe water rates were much...

Demand for Information on Environmental Health Risk, Mode of Delivery, and Behavioral Change: Evidence from Sonargaon, Bangladesh

Kazi Matin Ahmed
Alexander van Geen
Ricardo Maertens
In Bangladesh, researchers evaluated the impact of different selling schemes on demand for water testing, and the impact of test results on switching to a safer well. Although group test sales and well safety placards increased substantially the likelihood that households switched to a possibly...

Biased Beliefs and the Dynamic Role of Information in College Choice in Chile

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation in Chile to study the impact of altering high school students’ beliefs about the returns of college degrees on their decisions to invest in college preparation and which program they choose.