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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.

How Messages to Parents Impact Student Performance in Brazil

Nina Cunha
Ricardo Madeira
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation with 9th graders’ parents in São Paulo to investigate whether weekly messages giving updates on a child’s attendance and effort, or messages emphasizing their importance, better motivated parents. Both types of messages led parents to ask more about...

Training Teachers in Curiosity-Based Science Pedagogy in India

Ariel Gomez
Vinay Jha
Sandeep Kumar
Despite making great strides in expanding access to education, developing countries like India continue to lag in measures of actual student learning. To understand how quality of education mediates learning, this randomized control trial evaluates a pedagogical intervention training science...

Encouraging the Use of Formal Financial Services of Garment Workers through the Rollout of an Electronic Payment System in Bangladesh

Martin Kanz
Leora Klapper
Researchers randomly assigned employees at garment factories in Bangladesh to either continue collecting their wages in cash, receive direct deposit wage payments into a payroll account, or receive an account but continued to receive wage payments in cash. Exposure to payroll accounts led to...

Reducing Racial Stereotypes by Encouraging Interaction in South Africa

Researchers studied the effects of a university policy in South Africa to promote racial integration, by randomly allocating incoming students to roommates of a different race. The policy reduced negative racial stereotypes among white students, improved attitudes and behaviors towards members of...

The Impact of Lottery Ticket Incentives on Saving in Mexico

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to determine whether PLS programs encouraged opening and use of bank accounts in Mexico. The lottery incentive increased the number of bank accounts opened, and accounts opened because of the PLS program were just as likely to be used as accounts opened...

Teaching Students Perspective-taking to Mitigate Social Exclusion of Refugee Children in Turkey

Researchers partnered with the Ministry of Education in Turkey to conduct a randomized evaluation of Understanding Each Other, a program which aims to foster social cohesion through perspective-taking activities that encourage students to consider others’ perspectives. They found that the program...