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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 Physical Appearance on Employer Interest in Argentina

Florencia Lopez Boo
Sergio Urzua
In many countries around the world, there is growing concern that certain groups of people may face job market discrimination based on physical appearance. To test this theory, researchers randomly submitted resumes with photos of people with varying levels of attractiveness to measure the effect on...

The Impact of Employment and Cash Transfers on Psychosocial Wellbeing in Bangladesh

Erin Kelley
Fatima Zahra
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of employment on refugee psychosocial well-being in Bangladesh. The study found that employment generated significant psychosocial value beyond that from cash transfers alone.

Evaluating the Socioeconomic Impacts of Western Seed's Hybrid Maize Program in Kenya

Samuel Bird
Mary Mathenge
Timothy Njagi
Researchers are using Western Seed Company's expansion into new areas to evaluate the socio-economic effects of the hybrid maize program in Western and Central Kenya.

Union Leaders and Factory Workers’ Collective Action in Myanmar

Labor movements can improve workers’ lives but face great difficulty in getting workers to agree on common goals and take collective actions. In garment factory workers’ group discussions on minimum wage policies in Myanmar, researchers randomly included union leaders to study whether the presence...

Targeting the Ultra Poor in Yemen

To test this theory, researchers evaluated a multi-faceted approach aimed at improving long term income of the ultra-poor in multiple countries, including Yemen.

Mobile Monitoring to Improve Adult Learning in Niger

Researchers tested whether making weekly calls to teachers, students, and the village chief during an adult education program in Niger could increase teacher accountability and improve student learning. Both the education program and the weekly calls increased students’ scores in reading and math.