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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.

The Impact of Light-touch Employer-led Interventions on Attitudes Around Women's Work in India

Researchers evaluated the impact of two light-touch interventions (an orientation video for families, and a guided conversation between women and their families) on gender norms related to women’s work and increase labor force participation. Researchers did not find meaningful changes in support of...

The Impact of Poverty Reduction Among New Mothers on Child Brain Development in the United States

Molly A. Costanzo
Nathan Fox
Sarah Halpern-Meekin
Katherine Magnuson
Kimberly Noble
Sonya V. Troller-Renfree
Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Researchers evaluated the impact of poverty reduction via an unconditional cash transfer to mothers on child neurodevelopment. Children in families that received a $333 monthly transfer displayed different brain activity patterns than children whose mothers received only $20 a month.

The Impact of a School-Based Smoking Prevention Program in Indonesia

Justin White
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of a school-based program that used a non-monetary penalty and regular monitoring to prevent adolescent tobacco use. The program reduced the probability that adolescents smoked, with effects sustained three months after the program...

Community Engagement’s Impact on Healthcare Utilization and Health Insurance Enrollment in Ghana

Stephen Duku
Christine Fenenga
Wendy Janssens
Edward Nketiah-Amponsah
Researchers in Ghana evaluated the impact of community-led assessments on health insurance enrollment as well as healthcare and health insurance quality. The community engagement intervention improved the medical quality of healthcare, reduced community members’ chances of getting sick, and...

Asset-based Microfinance in Pakistan

In Pakistan, researchers partnered with a microfinance institution to conduct a randomized evaluation to test how larger asset-based loans for purchasing business equipment, combined with flexible repayment options, affected business performance and household well-being. Business owners who received...

Reducing Formalization Costs for Small Businesses in Colombia

Camila Navajas Ahumada
Marcela Meléndez
In the context of a recent government policy that reduced costs of formalization, researchers provided information on the formal entry process through workshops and personalized visits to determine the impacts of information on firms’ decision to formalize.

Teacher Incentives Based on Students' Test Scores in Kenya

In partnership with International Child Support, researchers designed and evaluated an incentives program that provided salary bonuses to teachers in Kenya based on the performance of their school as a whole on annual district exams. While results show that the incentives program led to an increase...

CARES Commitment Savings for Smoking Cessation in the Philippines

Researchers evaluated the impact of a voluntary commitment savings program that allowed individuals to deposit a self-selected amount of their own money that would be forfeited if they did not quit smoking within six months. Results suggested that individuals who were offered the program were much...