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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.

Are Agricultural Traders Colluding? Testing the Degree of Competition Among Maize Traders in Kenya

Michael Dinerstein
Researchers conducted three randomized evaluations to measure the degree of competition among wholesale maize traders, understand the implications for social welfare, and test whether new traders could make a market more competitive. Researchers found that traders did not pass through much of a...

Impact of Community Information in Identifying High Ability Microentrepreneurs

Identifying high-potential microentrepreneurs in low-income countries remains a challenge due to lack of verifiable information. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the value of community knowledge in identifying high-potential microentrepreneurs.

Sick Leave Reminders and Worker Health in Bangladesh

Researchers working with a large apparel maker in Bangladesh are evaluating the impact of phone call reminders sharing information about their employer’s support for workers to use their company's paid sick leave to increase worker retention.

Leveling the Playing Field for High School Choice: A Field Experiment of Informational Interventions in the United States

Researchers evaluated the impact of several informational interventions with different modes of delivery and customization levels on high school choice outcomes among middle school students in New York City. All interventions made students less likely to rank a low graduation rate high school as...

The Role of Information and Preferences in School Choices in Romania

Robert Ainsworth
Rajeev Dehejia
In this randomized evaluation in Romania, researchers compared the roles of preferences and information in households’ decision-making, with regard to high school selection. Results suggest that households provided with information on school quality tend to choose schools that have a greater...

The Impact of a Gender-Sensitive Training for Police Officers on Gender-Based Violence in India

Girija Borker
Nishith Prakash
Researchers are evaluating the impact of a gender-sensitization training for police officers in Bihar, India, using expressive arts techniques, on police officers’ attitudes towards gender-based violence as well as women’s safety and economic agency.

Saving Incentives for Low and Middle Income Families: Evidence From a Field Experiment with HR Block

Researchers tested the influence of the (randomly chosen) rate at which clients were told contributions to their Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) would be matched on the amount contributed to their retirement savings accounts. They found higher matching rates significantly increased IRA...

Impact of PR Reservations on Public Good Allocations

Following the implementation of a policy mandating lower-caste representation in some local village councils in India, researchers evaluated how lower-caste presidents invested in and distributed goods. They found that disadvantaged lower-caste groups received more public goods in councils with an...