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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.

Improving Student Learning through Pay-for-Performance Teacher Contracts in Rwanda

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of pay for performance contracts on teachers’ qualities, effort, and student learning in Rwanda. Pay for performance improved teacher effort, particularly their presence in classroom and their pedagogical effectiveness, and raised...

Tablet-Based Financial Education in Colombia

Matthew Bird
Lina Cardona-Sosa
Pablo Lavado
Researchers collaborated with Fundación Capital and the Government of Colombia to conduct a randomized evaluation of LISTA, a tablet-based financial education program designed for participants in Colombia's government CCT program, to study its impact on financial knowledge and behavior. LISTA had...

Impact of Financial Control on Women's Labor Supply and Gender Norms in India

Researchers worked with local banks and the state government of Madhya Pradesh to provide women with their own bank accounts, training on how to use them, and direct deposit of wages earned through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to measure the impact of...

Using Technology to Improve Direct Benefit Transfer in India

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a web and mobile-based management and monitoring platform, PayDash, to improve the administration of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). PayDash access reduced wage payment delays and increased household participation...

Comparing Livelihood Approaches for the Ultra-Poor in Ghana

Nate Barker
Elizabeth Bradley
Angela Ofori-Atta
The Graduation Approach, a model for holistic livelihoods programs, has been proven to have lasting impacts on poor families’ income, assets, food security, and mental health, but these programs can be expensive to implement. In Ghana, researchers are evaluating the impact of different variations of...

Improving Security through Concentrated Policing in Bogotá, Colombia

Daniel Mejia
Daniel Ortega
In Bogotá, Colombia, researchers partnered with the city to measure the impact of either concentrated policing, increased municipal clean-ups, or both on crime reduction and displacement. The evaluation found that the two approaches reduced crime on targeted streets when implemented together, but...