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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.

Can Lotteries Help Prevent HIV Among Youth? Evidence from Lesotho

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of lottery-based financial awards given to young individuals who tested STI-negative on their likelihood of contracting HIV and engaging in risky sexual behavior. The intervention provided frequent rewards at short intervals to bring...

Communal Sanitation Solutions for Urban Slums in Orissa, India

Sharon Barnhardt
Judy Chevalier
Researchers are evaluating the effect of improving communal toilet facilities, and implementing innovative systems for facility maintenance, on the use of community toilets in Orissa, India.

Text Messages as Reminders for Antiretroviral Medication Adherence in Kenya

Researchers introduced text message reminders to evaluate their effect on Kenyan patients taking their antiretrovirals consistently and not skipping doses. Patients who received weekly text messages were more likely to take their medicine 90 percent of the time and were less likely to skip doses for...

School-Based Nutrition Programs to Improve Child Health in India

Saurabh Mehta
Priya Mukherjee
Hannah Ruebeck
Gauri Kartini Shastry
Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of introducing a second school-based nutrition program, and monitoring these two programs, on child nutrition and program implementation. Results showed that high intensity monitoring improved the implementation of the government’s iron and...

Student Incentive Structures in Malawi

Hyuncheol Kim
Hyuk Harry Son
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of two different performance-based incentives on students’ test scores, motivation, and behavior in Malawi. They find that tournament-style incentives that rewarded the top performers among a large group lowered test scores and student...

Enhancing Local Public Service Delivery through Financial Reform of India's Employment Guarantee

Social programs in developing countries are often plagued by corruption, especially within the flow of funds from the central government to beneficiaries. For the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in India, the central government disburses funds to local governments...

The Persuasive Effects of Televised Campaign Ads

James G. Gimpel
Daron R. Shaw
Early in the 2006 campaign for governor of Texas, the launch date and volume of television advertisements as well as the launch date of radio advertisements for the incumbent candidate were randomly assigned across media markets to evaluate the impact of the ads on public opinion. Results indicate...