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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.

School-based Social and Emotional Learning on Student Behavior and Learning Outcomes in Chile

Researchers evaluated the impact of Chile’s national Skills For Life (SFL) program for disruptive students on their behavior and academic outcomes. Researchers found that the SFL program did not impact eligible students’ learning outcomes.

Handwashing and Behavior Change in Bangladesh

Dayea Oh
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of an edutainment intervention at schools and the provision of handwashing resources at home on handwashing at school and at home. These findings suggest that encouraging behavior change in one setting may crowd out like behavior in...

The Role of Emotions on Individuals Decisions to Join Armed Groups in Eastern Congo

By leveraging a unique, long-lasting relationship with an armed organization in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the researcher aims to better understand who joins armed organizations and why, as well as the effect of the participation motives on performance inside the group.

The Impact of an Online Entrepreneurial Mindset Training for Youth in Ecuador

Guido Buenstorf
Diego d'Andria
Francisco Flores
David McKenzie
Mathis Schulte
Thomas Åstebro
Recent studies have shown that a psychology-based entrepreneurial mindset training can have promising effects on business outcomes. In Ecuador, researchers are evaluating whether these skills can be taught at scale and online by testing the effects of an entrepreneurial mindset training program on...

Supplementing Savings Groups with External Funds to Expand Access to Lending in Uganda

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether supplementing SGs with additional funds impacts SG members' financial access and behavior. Capital infusions to Sgs increased members' access to loans and members received more money at the end of year payout, without increasing defaults...

The Impact of Agro-dealer Training on Input Adoption and Productivity Among Smallholder Farmers in Niger

In Niger, researchers evaluated the impact of a training program for input distributors (agro-dealers) on smallholder access to and use of agricultural inputs. Researchers found that trainings for agro-dealers combined with a demonstration plot increased the share of farmers adopting improved seeds...

The Spillover Effects of a Nationwide Medicare Bundled Payment Reform

Liran Einav
Yunan Ji
Researchers evaluated the spillover effects of a nationwide Medicare bundled payment reform on privately insured Medicare Advantage (MA) patients who were not targeted by the reform. They found that the bundled payment reform’s spillover effect on non-targeted MA patients was similar to the bundled...

The Impact of Personalized SMS Messages to Parents on Student Achievement in Kenya

Joost de Laat
Researchers are partnering with Bridge International Academies to evaluate the impact of an SMS-based information provision program on students’ learning outcomes in Kenya.