Blog

News

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.

Text message reminders decreased failure to appear in court in New York City

Brice Cooke
Binta Zahra Diop
Alissa Fishbane
Jonathan Hayes
Anuj Shah
Researchers partnered with policymakers in New York City to evaluate the impacts of a redesigned court summons form and text message reminders on failure to appear (FTA) in court. A randomized evaluation found that text message reminders were able to reduce FTA by up to 26 percent, translating to 3...

Assessing the effect of conditional cash transfers on pregnancy outcomes in France

Marc Bardou
Xavier Carcopino-Tusoli
Catherine Deneux-Tharaux
Philippe Deruelle
Muriel Doret-Dion
Astrid Eckman-Lacroix
Frédérique Falchier
Isabelle Fournel
Aurélie Godard-Marceau
Ghada Hatem-Gantzer
Laurent Laforet
Nicolas Meunier-Beillard
Mathieu Morin
Franck Perrotin
Tiphaine Raia-Barjat
Isabelle Le Ray
Thomas Schmitz
Elise Thellier

Video-Based and In-person Extension Services to Increase Agricultural Technology Adoption in Ethiopia

Adrien Bouguen
Denise Hörner
Meike Wollni
Researchers randomly evaluated the effects of a decentralized extension program and an additional video-based information campaign on farmers’ adoption of a package of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technologies as well as individual practices in Ethiopia. They found that both in-person...

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...

Worker Evaluations of Managers and Productivity in China

Shing-Yi Wang
Researchers randomly assigned automobile manufacturing workers to provide monthly feedback on their managers to measure the impact of feedback on worker productivity, turnover, and job satisfaction in China. Team-level productivity was higher, turnover was lower, and workers’ happiness increased...

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.

Examining the Impact of Rainfall Insurance and Family Networks in Burkina Faso

Zaki Wahhaj
Researchers partnered with IPA and PlaNet Guarantee to conduct a large-scale randomized evaluation that will measure demand for rainfall insurance among both urban migrants and rural households and its impact on the economic outcomes of the latter group.