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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.

Video-Based and In-person Extension Services to Increase Agricultural Technology Adoption in Ethiopia

Denise Hörner
Meike Wollni
Researchers randomly evaluated the effects of a decentralized extension program and an additional video-based information campaign on farmers’ adoption of a package of integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) technologies as well as individual practices in Ethiopia. They found that both in-person...

The Impacts of Mental Health Treatment on Productivity in India

Researchers evaluated the impact of providing depression treatment and economic assistance on mental health and economic behavior in peri-urban communities near Bangalore, India. Treatment reduced depression severity, a benefit that persisted when paired with light-touch livelihoods assistance, but...

Information on Tax Compliance and Perceptions of Equity in Tax Policy in Brazil

Evan Kresch
Laura Zoratto
Researchers are conducting an evaluation that randomized the provision of information in a survey to improve the likelihood that citizens paid their municipal property taxes and understood the role that unequal tax burdens played in determining the likelihood of people paying their full tax burden...

Improving Women’s Labor and Welfare Outcomes through Microfinance in Uganda

Researchers in rural Western Uganda tested whether a microfinance program can help women borrowers switch out of subsistence agriculture to other labor activities, such as entrepreneurship or small-scale trading. While microloans helped women switch into service-based jobs including small-scale...

Deferring Wages and Labor Supply in Malawi

Lasse Brune
Researchers partnered with a tea company in Malawi to study the effects of a savings product that allowed workers to defer payment of a part of their wages. The deferred wages program was generally popular and increased savings; in the longer run, it helped workers improve their houses.

Increasing Access to Security and Justice through Women's Help Desks in Police Stations in India

Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner
Akshay Mangla
Researchers are employing an RCT to evaluate whether the establishment of police station-level Women’s Help Desks (WHDs), as well as the deployment of additional female personnel to these WHDs, improves the responsiveness of frontline officers to women, as well as levels of crime and crime reporting...

Gender-specific managerial training program and firm productivity in Colombia

Researchers are evaluating the impact of providing a gender-specific managerial training program on career advancement prospects for women and workplace productivity.

Influencing Higher Education Choices through a Customized Digital Application Platform in the Dominican Republic

Researchers are partnering with the Government of the Dominican Republic to introduce a custom tablet application to prospective students on what tertiary education programs, scholarships, and funding options exist based on their interests and finances, as well as employment rates and earnings...