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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.

Messaging Strategies to Promote Safe Water and Hygiene in Bangladesh

Kaniz Jannat
David Levine
Thomas Polley
Leanne Unicomb
Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but...

Testing Alternative Job Evaluation Schemes to Improve Civil Servants’ Work Performance in China

Employers often rely on subjective performance evaluations by supervisors to gauge the performance of workers–particularly in the public sector, where civil servants’ work performance is hard to measure. However, relying on the opinions of local supervisors could cause subordinates to prioritize...

Video-Mediated Agricultural Extension to Increase Technology Adoption Among Farmers in Ethiopia

Gashaw Abate
Simrin Makhija
David J. Spielman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a video-mediated extension approach on the uptake of technologies recommended by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The video-mediated instruction increased uptake through improved access to extension and farmer knowledge but...

The Effects of a Universal Basic Income during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya

Michael Faye
Alan Krueger
Taking advantage of a pre-existing large-scale evaluation of a universal basic income project in Kenya, researchers measured how different types of cash transfers impact recipients’ income, reported well-being, food security, mental health, and social interaction in the context of the COVID-19...

Improving Youth Employment through Job Training and Capital in Egypt

Ahmed Elsayed
Kevin Hempel
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to determine the impact of job training and counseling programs on youth employment in Egypt. The job training programs improved labor market outcomes such as employment rates and income, and sometimes had a positive impact on non-labor market outcomes...

Addressing Bias by Promoting Women to Management Positions in Bangladesh

Researchers randomly assigned co-supervisors to production lines to evaluate the impact of exposing garment factory workers and supervisors to women managers on factory productivity, supervisor retention, and attitudes toward women. Several months after the intervention, there was no difference in...

Providing Primary Education for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Guinea Bissau

Peter Boone
Ila Fazzio
Jenny Hsieh
Robin Lumsdaine
Researchers evaluated the impact of creating schools offering four years of primary education, in lieu of the government, on early grade reading and math skills in rural Guinea Bissau. The intervention led to substantial improvements in literacy and numeracy.