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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.

Learning beyond school: the impact of a remedial learning and literacy program on out-of-school girls in Pakistan

This project used a randomized evaluation to study the effect of a learning program targeting adolescent girls on their education, aspirations, and empowerment.

Information and Adoption of Energy-Efficient Stitching Motors in Bangladesh

Yunfan Gu
Gaurav Nayyar
Siddharth Sharma
Researchers are working with small- and medium-sized enterprises in the leather goods and footwear manufacturing sector in Bangladesh to understand the role of information in the adoption of energy-efficient motors for stitching machines, as well as firms’ perception of and willingness to pay for...

Building Trust in Fertilizer Quality Among Farmers in Tanzania

Annemie Maertens
Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of an information campaign about fertilizer quality on farmers’ beliefs and their purchase and use of fertilizer. The information campaign led farmers to change their beliefs about the quality of fertilizer available in local markets and to buy...

Training Teachers in Curiosity-Based Science Pedagogy in India

Ariel Gomez
Vinay Jha
Sandeep Kumar
Despite making great strides in expanding access to education, developing countries like India continue to lag in measures of actual student learning. To understand how quality of education mediates learning, this randomized control trial evaluates a pedagogical intervention training science...

Providing Conditional Cash Transfers to Encourage Childhood Immunization in Pakistan

Sara Abdullah
Danya Arif
Subhash Chandir
Aamir Khan
In Pakistan, researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of different types of mobile conditional cash transfers (mCCTs) on childhood immunization coverage and timeliness. Overall, small mCCTs led to increases in rates of immunization coverage at a low administrative cost. Additionally...

Remedial Education to Address Learning Gaps in Secondary Schools in India

Anne Fitzpatrick
Khandker Wahedur Rahman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of an in-school remedial education program on student learning in Odisha, India. Both the standard and a version that allowed teacher flexibility improved student test scores without reducing grade- level mastery or affecting the...

Marketing Effects in a Consumer Credit Market in South Africa (Pricing the Effect of Psychological "Features")

Working closely with a highly profitable consumer lender in South Africa, researchers sought to determine the effects of advertising content, price, and offer deadlines on loan take up. They found the marketing had significant effects on loan take up, but not on loan amount or default rates. Clients...

Interest Rates, Loan Maturity and Demand for Microfinance Loans in South Africa

Researchers tested the assumption of price inelastic demand using a randomized evaluation in South Africa. The results suggest that the demand curves were downward sloping, and steeper for price increases relative to the lender’s standard rates. Researchers also found that loan size was far more...