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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.

Radio Public Service Announcements and Voter Participation Among Native Americans in the United States

Eline A de Rooij
Can media campaigns increase voter turnout among those underrepresented in the electorate? Researchers randomly assigned areas covered by Native American radio programming to either receive or not receive targeted radio messaging encouraging listeners to vote in the 2008 and 2010 US elections. The...

The impact of door-to-door canvassing on voter support and participation in Italy

Enrico Cantoni
Researchers tested whether discussions between candidates and voters can help bridge this gap and increase voter turnout, leveraging a volunteer and candidate canvassing campaign in the 2014 Italian municipal elections. While canvassing by volunteers increased voter turnout, canvassing by political...

Texting Students to Help Achieve Their Goals in Canada

Christopher Dobronyi
Richard W. Patterson
Uros Petronijevic

The Effect of Text Message Reminders on Failure to Appear in Court in the Rural United States

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of text message reminders on rates of failure to appear in court (FTA) among people who are unhoused and housed in rural Shasta County, California. The reminders reduced FTA rates for the housed population, but did not impact FTA rates...

Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for Workers without Dependent Children in the United States

Kali Aloisi
Gilda Azurdia
Adam Isen
Cynthia Miller
Caroline Schultz
MDRC partnered with NYC Opportunity, the NYC Human Resources Administration and Food Bank for NYC to design, implement, and evaluate the program. MDRC researchers found that three years of Paycheck Plus in New York City increased income, employment, tax credit receipt, and payment of child support...

Teaching Patience in Classrooms for Improved Student Decision-Making and Behavior in Turkey

Seda Ertac
Researchers introduced an educational program focused on teaching patience to evaluate the impact on students’ decision-making and willingness to wait for a future reward over the present. Students assigned to the program demonstrated more patient decision-making, which persisted almost three years...

Capacity-building with small and medium enterprises for emissions reductions and firm growth in Türkiye

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of emissions reductions-focused loan support to small and medium firms in Türkiye on reducing these firms’ greenhouse gas emissions and protecting firm growth.