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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.

Effects of Student Performance Information on Parental Decision-Making in Malawi

This study evaluated the impacts of information about children’s academic performance on parents’ subsequent investments in their children’s education. Findings indicate that parents’ perceptions of their children’s academic needs tend to be inaccurate, and that providing parents with information on...

Building Resilient Health Systems: Community Monitoring and Nonfinancial Awards During Sierra Leone’s 2014 Ebola Outbreak

Researchers partnered with the Government of Sierra Leone to evaluate the impact of community monitoring and nonfinancial awards programs on health care utilization and health outcomes. Both programs improved clinic utilization, patient satisfaction, and symptom reporting during the 2014 Ebola...

The Impact of an Online Math Learning Platform on Test Scores and Attitudes Towards Math in Brazil

Lucas Finamor
Lycia Lima
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impacts of the Khan Academy’s online platform on math scores in Brazilian public schools. Despite improving student’s attitudes towards math, the program had mixed impact on students’ test scores depending on program implementation and...

Individualized Reminders to Increase Teacher Loan Forgiveness Uptake in the United States

Benjamin J. Keys
Researchers are working with Innovations for Poverty Action to study the effects of behavioral "nudges" that encourage teachers to enroll in loan forgiveness programs on program enrollment, teacher retention, and household finance.

Does Additional Labor Benefit Microenterprises? Evidence from Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, researchers provided wage subsidies to randomly chosen microenterprises to determine if they would hire more workers, and whether the additional labor would benefit such firms. The study found that while firms increased employment during the subsidy period, there was no lasting impact...

The Impact of Community-Based Environmental Health Promotion Program on Child Health in Western Rwanda

Leodomir Mfura
Ronald Wendt
In western Rwanda, researchers evaluated the impact of community health clubs on household take-up of healthy behaviors and on the health of children under 5 years of age. The program had minimal impact on household behaviors and no impact on caregiver-reported rates of diarrhea among children under...

The Impact of Financial Education for Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore

Researchers evaluated the impact of a financial literacy program for Filipino domestic workers based in Singapore on their financial knowledge, behavior, savings, and remittances. While there was no evidence that being invited to join the program had any impact on financial knowledge or behavior...