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.

Costs of Failure to Appear for Arraignment

Natalia Emanuel
Helen Ho
Researchers will conduct a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different types of notifications on rates of failure to appear in traffic and criminal misdemeanor courts.

Improving the Targeting of Preventive Health Subsidies through Vouchers in Western Kenya

Vivian Hoffman
Alix Peterson Zwane
In Western Kenya, researchers compared three different approaches to subsidizing dilute chlorine solution to treat drinking water: a partial subsidy, a twelve month supply of free chlorine through monthly vouchers, and a twelve month supply of free chlorine hand-delivered. Safe water rates were much...

Priming Adverse Events and Reports of Depression in Nigeria

Kevin McGee
Gbemisola Oseni
Julie Perng
Ryoko Sato
Tomomi Tanaka
Renos Vakis
To better understand how to measure and report depression, researchers randomized the order of questions in a national survey to examine the effect of triggering memories of difficult events, such as conflicts, shocks, and death, on reported levels of depression across households in Nigeria. They...

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Learning in Brazil

Lycia Lima
Flávio Riva
Researchers evaluated the learning impacts of using AI systems to score and comment on essays written for Brazil’s national post-secondary admission exam. In schools where AI technology was introduced, teachers were able to provide more frequent individualized feedback to students, and students’...

Improving Student Learning through Pay-for-Performance Teacher Contracts in Rwanda

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of pay for performance contracts on teachers’ qualities, effort, and student learning in Rwanda. Pay for performance improved teacher effort, particularly their presence in classroom and their pedagogical effectiveness, and raised...

Revealing Stereotypes about Immigrant Students to Middle School Teachers in Italy

Researchers evaluated the impact of informing middle school teachers in Italy about their implicit stereotypes towards immigrant students on end-of-year grading. Both math and literature teachers eligible to receive feedback before the end-of-the-year grading gave higher grades to immigrant students...

Community-Based Forestry Management to Improve Natural Resource Management and Farming Productivity in Ethiopia

Erwin Bulte
Goytom Abraha Kahsay
Fekadu Tefera Meka
researchers are evaluating the impact of CBFM on farmers’ agricultural productivity, adoption of modern technology, rural livelihoods, and forest conservation.

Estimating the Human Costs of Debtor Prisons

In Egypt, a sizable portion of the prison population is incarcerated solely for failing to repay private debts, highlighting serious concerns about the social, economic, and legal consequences of debtor imprisonment. Researchers are conducting two randomized evaluations, the first tests the impact...