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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

A woman wearing a hijab sits typing at a computer

Improving female labor force participation in MENA

Female labor force participation in MENA is the lowest globally. Evidence from recent randomized evaluations conducted in MENA help shed light on some reasons why participation rates are so low and what types of policies could help increase them.
A smiling women speaks on a cell phone in front of an Mpesa stand.

Building back better: Catalyzing digital financial services for women across Africa

The G7 partnership on women's digital financial inclusion in Africa, of which J-PAL Africa’s Digital Identification and Finance Initiative is a participant, recently held its first annual event focused on Catalyzing Digital Financial Services for Women Across Africa: Supporting Recovery, Resilience...
Three people conduct digital cash transfer payments

Reaching the most vulnerable: Can digitization improve social assistance targeting?

Governments around the world rely on social assistance to reduce poverty, but the poorest are often left behind. To what extent can digital identity and payment systems improve targeting of government transfers?
A person is speaking in front of a group of teachers in a classroom.

The devil’s in the details (of adapting and scaling evidence-based programs)

J-PAL Senior Policy Associate Robert Rogers discusses his experience working on an education scale-up in Cote d'Ivoire.
A man and woman use their phones for a mobile money transfer

The rise of mobile money in sub-Saharan Africa: Has this digital technology lived up to its promises?

Mobile money has been touted as a revolutionary tool for expanding access to financial services in low resource environments. But does this technology live up to its promises? What are the impacts on the households who use mobile money?
Nine people having a conversation stand around a board covered in post-it notes

Why aren’t farmers using improved agricultural technologies to increase their profits? Lessons from ten years of research in the Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative

By
  • Leah Bridle
Through more than ten years of research in J-PAL and CEGA's Agricultural Technology Adoption Initiative, we’ve learned about the range of compounding constraints farmers face as microentrepreneurs, and that the next wave of experimentation should evaluate approaches designed to better include...
Hand holding mobile phone for digital cash transfer

Should government payments be digitized?

Many countries in Africa have digitized government-to-person (G2P) payments, which has proven particularly useful during the COIVD-19 pandemic. But while there has been much progress on the spread of digital payments, we still have little evidence about how to effectively design policies to maximize...
Woman holds a card that reads "our vote our choice" from Ghana Decides

Digital IDs: The good, the bad, and the unknown

As policymakers across Africa are increasingly investing in digital identification systems, the Digital Identification and Finance Initiative in Africa (DigiFI) explores what the benefits, challenges, and unknowns are.