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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.

The impact of financial incentives on female land ownership in Tanzania

Daniel Ayalew Ali
Matthew Collin
Klaus Deininger
Justin Sandefur
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of unconditional price discounts and price discounts conditional on including a woman on formal purchased land titles in traditionally informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Price discounts increased demand for formal land...

Weekday vs. Weekend Text-Based Parenting Support in the United States

Hans Fricke
David Song
Ben York
In Texas, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of text message-based parenting support delivered at different times of the week on young children’s literacy and numeracy development. They found that text messages delivered on weekends were best for supporting children...

Targeting Labor Market Programs to Jobseekers Who Need Them Most in Switzerland

Stefanie Behncke
Michael Lechner
In many countries, there has recently been an increased interest in targeting labor market programs to unemployed persons who would benefit the most from them. Researchers evaluated the impact of providing a statistical targeting system to case workers in government employment agencies on their...

Laser-Branding Technologies to Increase the Quality of Watermelons in Chinese Markets

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different types of labels to signal product quality on sellers’ ability to develop a reputation for consistently selling high-quality watermelons in China. The more expensive laser-cut label influenced sellers to provide higher...

Virtual and Face-to-Face Peer Interactions to Improve the Quality of Business Proposals among Entrepreneurs in 49 Countries across Africa

Cristiana Benedetti-Fasil
Charles Brummitt
Tommaso Fornaciari
Dirk Hovy
Paolo Pin
Gaia Rubera
Fernando Vega-Redondo
Researchers compared the effects of face-to-face and virtual peer interaction on the submission and quality of business proposals by individuals from 49 African countries enrolled in an online entrepreneurship course. They found that face-to-face networks and the virtual interaction of groups of...

Increasing the Demand for Workers with a Criminal Record in the United States

Workers with criminal records face substantially lower chances of securing employment compared to similar workers without such records. Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of different approaches, including wage subsidies, crime and safety insurance, past performance reviews, criminal record...