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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.

Farmers and the fear of crime: Improving agricultural productivity through farm protection in Kenya

Julian Dyer
In Kenya, researchers matched farmers with subsidized, trained watchmen to evaluate the effect of improved farm security on farmers’ decision-making, agricultural productivity, and conflict with neighbors. Security was shown to increase and in response, farmers made different cropping, time use, and...

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...

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.

Investigating the Impact of Credit with Performance-Contingent Repayment in Kenya

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether a performance-based repayment contract could outperform conventional microcredit contracts, or fixed-payment loans, in improving business outcomes and welfare for micro-distributors in Kenya. Micro-distributors who received flexible...

Flexible Loan Contracts for Microentrepreneurs in Bangladesh

Marianna Battaglia
Andreas Madestam
In Bangladesh, researchers partnered with BRAC to evaluate the impact of repayment flexibility in loan contracts for microentrepreneurs. Repayment flexibility benefited traditional microfinance borrowers primarily through the provision of insurance, enabling riskier investments at lower default...

The Impact of Emergency Job Retention Assistance on Labor Market Outcomes for Informal Firms and Workers in Ghana

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing emergency job retention assistance to firms and workers on firm survival, worker-firm match survival, and labor market outcomes for firm owners and workers in Ghana’s informal sector. Research is ongoing; results are...

Branchless Banking Agents’ Profile, Limitations, and Potential for Agent Network Expansion and Improvement”

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in East Java, Indonesia to investigate the impact of the level and transparency of financial incentives on the take-up of these new banking services. They found that larger incentives caused an increase in take-up, but only when the incentives were not...