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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 Providing Land Tax Subsidies, Local Monitoring, and Minikits on Irrigation Use in Rwanda

Maria Jones
Florence Kondylis
John Loeser
Building off of previous quasi-experimental research, researchers conducted three randomized evaluations to test the impact of providing farmers with land tax subsidies, different ways of monitoring water access and the canal’s operations and maintenance, or farming minikits on farmers' use of...

The Role of Conditional Cash Transfers in Mitigating Income Shocks in Mexico

In rural Mexico, researchers examined whether conditional cash transfers (CCTs) protect families against income shocks and promote investment in children's education.

The Impact of Emergency Rental Assistance on Housing Stability during Covid-19 in the United States

Researchers leveraged existing randomization to evaluate the impact of ERA programs during the pandemic in four urban areas in the United States on measures of housing stability, financial security, and mental health. Receipt of rental assistance increased rent payment in the short term and modestly...

Assessing the Effectiveness of Alternative Text Messages to Improve Collection of Delinquent Fines in the United Kingdom

Rory Gallagher
Laura Haynes
Peter John
David Torgerson
The collection of delinquent fines is a massive public administrative challenge. In the United Kingdom for instance, unpaid court fines amounted to more than £600 million in 2011. Managing noncompliant accounts and dispatching bailiffs to collect fines in person is costly. Researchers used a...

The Use of Nonbinding Contribution Suggestions for a Charitable Fundraising Scheme in Germany

Maja Adena
Steffen Huck
Researchers randomized the suggested contribution in a fundraising appeal sent to patrons of the Bavaria State Opera (Germany). They found that the suggestions increased the average donation while decreasing the participation rate, resulting in no significant change in the average return per mailing...

Free Medical Consultations for Young Job Seekers in France

Julie Pernaudet
Researchers partnered with five job centers to test whether health counseling targeted at youth increased insurance coverage and health care use, leading to better health and employment outcomes. Encouraging youth to meet with a social worker and with a physician increased enrollment in the public...

The Impacts of Computer-Based Individualized Instruction on Math Learning in India

Andreas de Barros
Alejandro Ganimian
In partnership with an education assessment firm, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to isolate the impact of computer-based individualized instruction in India. After nine months, lower-performing students in grades six to eight learned 22 percent of a standard deviation more in math if...

Providing Agricultural Inputs in the Democratic Republic of Congo

In partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the World Bank, researchers are investigating how subsidizing the cost of and access to improved seeds affects smallholder farmers’ take-up of improved seeds, their short-term agricultural productivity, and...