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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.

Cash-for-Work Program to Improve Social Cohesion between Syrian Refugees and Host Communities in Jordan

Researchers use a large-scale RCT to evaluate a program aimed to improve cohesion between Syrian refugees and their host communities in Jordan.

Text Messages as Reminders for Antiretroviral Medication Adherence in Kenya

David R. Bangsberg
Markus Goldstein
Jessica Haberer
Sylvester Kimaiyo
Leslie MacKeen
Duncan Ngare
John Sidle
Harsha Thirumurthy
Damien de Walque
Joshua Graff Zivin
Researchers introduced text message reminders to evaluate their effect on Kenyan patients taking their antiretrovirals consistently and not skipping doses. Patients who received weekly text messages were more likely to take their medicine 90 percent of the time and were less likely to skip doses for...

Student Incentive Structures in Malawi

Hyuncheol Kim
Hyuk Harry Son
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of two different performance-based incentives on students’ test scores, motivation, and behavior in Malawi. They find that tournament-style incentives that rewarded the top performers among a large group lowered test scores and student...

Encouraging Behavioral Change to Improve Road Safety in Kenya

In Kenya, researchers introduced a messaging campaign on matatus (local buses) to encourage individuals to speak up against reckless driving and reduce road accidents rates. Placing these stickers in the passenger area of matatus decreased insurance claims rates, average speed, and number of road...

The Medium-Term Educational Effects of Short-Term Literacy Tutoring in Chile

Verónica Cabezas
Jose Ignacio Cuesta
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to gauge whether a short-term reading tutoring program could improve a range of student educational outcomes in the short- and medium-term (up to eight years after the program). They found that the program increased language test scores in the short term...

Emergency Savings Accounts for Remittance Receivers in Mexico

Researchers partnered with CNS to investigate whether requiring clients to sign a non-binding agreement to save a predetermined amount of each remittance received could increase saving.

Effectively Targeting Anti-Poverty Programs in Indonesia

Vivi Alatas
Julia Tobias
Researchers in Indonesia compared the effectiveness of two methods of identifying the low-income households: a community method where villagers ranked households according to perceived wealth, and a proxy-means test which relied on measures of consumption and assets. The community methods of...