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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.

Improving Student Test Scores through Peer Learning during a Computer Assisted Learning Program in China

In China, students in districts with average incomes that are below the national average achieve lower levels of learning compared students in wealthier districts. Researchers introduced a computer-assisted learning program (CAL) to classrooms in Shaanxi Province to evaluate its impact on math test...

Benchmarking Cash to an Employment Program in Rwanda

In Rwanda, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to compare the impact of Huguka Dukore, a youth employment and training program, to that of cash grants of an equivalent value on several economic outcomes. Huguka Dukore improved hours worked, assets, savings, and subjective well-being, while...

Providing Endowments to Improve Bargaining Outcomes for Microentrepreneurs in Ghana

Gisella Kagy
Lena Song
Researchers randomly provided more or less cash to garment-making firm owners in Ghana before a bargaining game to evaluate the impact of endowment on the negotiated sale price of a good. Owners of garment-making microenterprises with lower household liquidity agreed to lower sale prices during the...

Testing Legislator Responsiveness to Citizens and Firms in the Vietnamese National Assembly

Responsive governments have the ability to make laws and decisions that reflect their constituents’ preferences. However, legislators may lack necessary information about constituents’ opinions and may therefore be unable to meet their demands. Researchers measured whether providing targeted...

Impact of Recruiting Services on Firms' Job Postings and Hiring in France

Dylan Glover
Researchers in France studied whether government-provided recruiting services would impact firms’ job postings and hiring by lowering recruiting costs. The recruiting services decreased firms’ hiring costs and increased firms’ job postings and hiring, including much sought-after permanent-contract...

The impact of text message nudges on churn in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in the United States

Samuel Madison
Katharine Meyer
Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of text message reminders of key recertification processes and deadlines as well as access to paperwork assistance on enrollment in the SNAP program.

Visualization of Future Benefits to Increase Preventive Health Investment, Savings, and Labor Supply in Kenya

Anett John
Researchers evaluated the impact of light-touch psychological interventions on health and economic outcomes, with a particular focus on the chlorination of drinking water. After 12 weeks, visualization increased objectively measured chlorination; it also reduced diarrhea episodes among children and...

The Impact of Poverty Reduction on Child Health, Nutrition, and Sleep in the United States

Nathan Fox
Sarah Halpern-Meekin
Emma Hart
Alicia Kunin-Batson
Katherine Magnuson
Kimberly Noble
Jessica Sperber
Hiro Yoshikawa
To understand the causal impact of poverty reduction on children’s health, nutrition, sleep, and healthcare utilization, among other outcomes, researchers randomly assigned new mothers to receive an unconditional cash transfer of $333 (high-cash group) or $20 per month (low-cash group) in the Baby’s...