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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 an Early Childhood Program on Oral Language Development in France

Quentin Daviot
Sophie Kern
Early childhood is a critical time for cognitive, social, and physical development. Inequalities in children’s language abilities can persist, serving as important indicators for later life outcomes. Researchers in France are evaluating the effect of an early childhood program aiming to improve...

Digital Marketing for Microenterprises and Small Businesses in Egypt

Researchers aim to identify which firms can benefit from engaging with and advertising on digital advertising platforms, to explore the reasons why they may not already be doing so, and to test whether input-based versus results-based approaches are most cost-effective for policy.

Limiting Learning Loss using Phone-based Programming during Covid-19 in Botswana

Caton Brewster
Moitshepi Matsheng
Working in Botswana, researchers rapidly evaluated a phone-based remote learning program aimed at keeping children engaged with math during the Covid-19 pandemic. Students who received weekly SMS messages and phone calls to review math exercises increased their math skills after twelve weeks, while...

De-biasing Over-Optimism about Covid-19 Risks to Limit Vulnerable Individuals' Risky Behavior in India

Researchers are evaluating the impact of providing different types of information about the health risks of Covid-19 on individuals’ risky behavior among diabetic and hypertensive individuals in Tamil Nadu, India, with special attention to de-biasing over-optimism about personal health risk.

Impact of Community Information in Identifying High Ability Microentrepreneurs

Identifying high-potential microentrepreneurs in low-income countries remains a challenge due to lack of verifiable information. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the value of community knowledge in identifying high-potential microentrepreneurs.

Sick Leave Reminders and Worker Health in Bangladesh

Researchers working with a large apparel maker in Bangladesh are evaluating the impact of phone call reminders sharing information about their employer’s support for workers to use their company's paid sick leave to increase worker retention.

Peer Effects, Pupil-Teacher Ratios, and Teacher Incentives in Kenya

Researchers evaluated three interventions that addressed the large class sizes and heterogeneity in student preparation in the Kenyan school system. They found that hiring additional local contract teachers helped reduce classroom overcrowding and improved student learning outcomes. The biggest...

Achieving Academic Success After School: A Randomized Evaluation of the Higher Achievement Program in the United States

Jean Grossman
Carla Herrera
Researchers evaluated the academic impact of a “Cadillac” OST program in Washington, DC. Researchers found that the program increased students’ problem-solving and reading comprehension scores after two years.