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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.

Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan

Businesses may be slow to adopt a new technology even when it offers clear benefits. Researchers introduced a new fabric cutting technology to a randomly selected group of soccer ball manufacturers in Pakistan, but very few firms adopted it. They hypothesized that the most likely explanation for low...

Educational Vouchers and Altruism in the United States

Robert Slonim
Researchers studied the impact of private school vouchers on the altruism, or selfless concern for others, of children and their parents. Voucher recipients demonstrated more altruism towards charitable organizations, but not towards their peers.

Kenyan Government Bonds as a Savings Tool

Charity Wayua
Researchers investigated the impact of a new product that allowed Kenyans to invest small amounts of money in low-risk, high-return infrastructure bonds using their mobile phones. However, lack of awareness and low product take-up, triggered by logistical issues during implementation and a pending...

Reducing Voter Registration Costs in France

Celine Braconnier
Jean-Yves Dormagen
Researchers evaluated the impact of making voter registration easier on voter participation by providing information about voter registration and home registration visits. Overall, the results suggest that information and visits can encourage greater participation, particularly among groups that...

The Impacts of Recruiting Committee Gender Composition on Women's Employment Outcomes in Spain

Berta Esteve-Volart
If female managers are more likely to hire women, gender-balanced hiring committees may help promote parity in the long run. Using data from public examinations to enter the Spanish judiciary, researchers found that female candidates were less likely to succeed in the public examinations when...

The Impact of Subsidized Employment on Employment Outcomes in Michigan, United States

Elisabeth Gerber
H. Luke Shaefer
In an ongoing study, researchers are testing whether a subsidized employment program for low-income adults with less than a high school degree in Michigan can improve employment opportunities and earnings while reducing public benefit receipt.

The Effects of a Play-Based Preschool Learning Program in Rural Ghana

Sonya Krutikova
As in many other developing countries, children under the age of five in rural Ghana often fail to reach their developmental potential. Researchers there are partnering with the organization Lively Minds to evaluate the impact of a low-cost, play-based learning program on early childhood cognitive...