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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 Community Policing on Citizens' Response to COVID-19

Travis Curtice
David Dow
Researchers are conducting phone surveys to understand the effects of a community policing intervention on citizens' trust in the state and how that affects their willingness to comply with COVID-19 related measures in Uganda.

Combining In-School and Out-of-School Programs to Improve Learning in India

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of the combination of an in-school learning program with an out-of-school learning program on primary school math and reading levels. The combination of the two programs led to a significant increase in children's test scores in both...

Gender Gaps in the Diffusion of Agricultural Technology in Malawi

Ariel BenYishay
Maria Jones
Florence Kondylis
Researchers studied the impact of the gender of communicators on the effects of a program to train farmers to communicate information on agricultural technology to other farmers. While there was no gender gap in communicators’ ability to acquire, retain, and use the information about the technology...

Are Agricultural Traders Colluding? Testing the Degree of Competition Among Maize Traders in Kenya

Michael Dinerstein
Researchers conducted three randomized evaluations to measure the degree of competition among wholesale maize traders, understand the implications for social welfare, and test whether new traders could make a market more competitive. Researchers found that traders did not pass through much of a...

School's Out: How Summer Youth Employment Programs Impact Academic Outcomes (in Boston)

Researchers evaluated the impact of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program, which uses a lottery to provide youth with part-time work and skills training during the summer, on students’ educational outcomes. The program significantly increased high school graduation rates among participating...

Menstruation and Education in Nepal

Researchers introduced a convenient and hygienic sanitary product, reusable menstrual cups, to Nepalese girls in the seventh and eighth grades. Their evaluation addressed several questions: Is menstruation as large a barrier to education as many believe? Does switching to modern sanitary products...

Can Informational Campaigns Raise Awareness and Local Participation in Primary Education in India?

Rukmini Banerji
Stuti Khemani
Researchers examined whether increasing community oversight and participation could improve education outcomes in Uttar Pradesh, India. Mobilizing community members to monitor local schools through Village Education Committees did not increase participation in school governance or improve education...

Contraceptive Adoption, Fertility, and the Family in Zambia

Women who received private access to vouchers for contraceptives were more likely to take up and use contraception, compared to women whose husbands were involved in the voucher program.