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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.

The Impact of Defaults and Financial Incentives on Savings Decisions on a Mobile Money Platform in Afghanistan

Joshua Blumenstock
In partnership with a mobile network operator launching a new phone-based savings account, researchers evaluated the role of defaults and financial incentives on savings decisions. Two months after the launch of the phone-based savings account, the company’s employees randomly assigned a default...

The Impact of an Online Math Learning Platform on Test Scores and Attitudes Towards Math in Brazil

Lucas Finamor
Lycia Lima
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impacts of the Khan Academy’s online platform on math scores in Brazilian public schools. Despite improving student’s attitudes towards math, the program had mixed impact on students’ test scores depending on program implementation and...

How Malleable are Non-Cognitive Skills? Measuring the Impact of Increasing Grit in Turkey

Teodora Boneva
Seda Ertac
Researchers worked with public elementary schools in Istanbul to measure the effects of a “grit curriculum” on fourth-grade students’ perseverance, competitiveness, and test scores. Students who were exposed to the grit curriculum in 2013 earned higher scores on math exams, and the program also...

Motivating Bureaucrats through Performance Recognition in Nigeria

Varun Gauri
Nina Mazar
Karima Salem
Researchers introduced a performance recognition system for employees to improve record keeping in clinics in Ekiti and Niger, Nigeria. They found that the performance recognition improved record keeping in Ekiti but not in Niger. Researchers suggested that important institutional, managerial and...