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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.

Examining Underinvestment in Agriculture: Returns to Capital and Insurance Among Farmers in Ghana

Researchers in northern Ghana conducted a randomized evaluation to assess the underlying reason for underinvestment by examining the relative effectiveness of cash grants and insurance grants in improving crop yields. Results suggest that uninsured risk, rather than a lack of capital, was the...

Insurance, Credit and Technology Adoption in Malawi

Xavier Giné
In Malawi, researchers examined the effect of bundling rainfall index insurance with a credit program on farmers’ demand for credit. They found that bundling insurance with credit reduced the demand for credit, from 33 percent for credit alone to 17.6 percent for the bundled product.

Urban Property Rights in Mongolia

Researchers are evaluating the effect of an ownership assistance program on residents’ income, assets, and general financial behavior.

The Impact of Entrepreneurship Training for Women in Uganda

In Uganda, researchers evaluated the effect of standardized business skills training on business performance as compared to more personalized mentoring services.

The Impact of Nursery Quality, Empowerment, and Nutrition Interventions on Early Childhood Development and Women’s Employment in Egypt

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a package of interventions with the aim of improving the quality of nurseries, enhancing nutrition, and empowering women to address poverty and promote early childhood development in Egypt.

Network Effects between Small & Medium Enterprises in Uganda

Francisco Campos
Markus Goldstein
Obert Pimhidzai
Mattea Stein
Bilal Zia
Many governments and organizations use finance and management training as a tool to promote small and medium enterprise growth in developing countries, but it is not clear whether or how information from these trainings is shared across SMEs operating in the same area.

Digital Payments to Encourage the Use of Technology and Enable Secure, Efficient Transactions in Senegal's Informal Taxi Sector

Researchers introduced a digital payment system in Senegal's informal taxi sector to investigate how digital payments affected drivers' cash-handling costs and how allowing employers different levels of access to drivers' transactions affected driver effort, employment contracts, and the use of...

Incentivizing Safe Sex in Rural Tanzania

Ramadhani Abdul
Faraji Abilahi
William Dow
Erick Gong
Zachary Isdahl
Boniphace Jullu
Suneeta Krishnan
Albert Majura
Carol A. Medlin
Jeanne Moncada
Sally Mtenga
Mathew Alexander Mwanyangala
Rose Nathan
Laura Packel
Julius Schachter
Kizito Shirima
Damien de Walque
In Tanzania, researchers examined whether making cash payments conditional on testing negative for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) can improve safe sex practices among young adults. They found that offering cash incentives of US$20 significantly reduced STI rates after one year, although...