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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.

Evaluating the Impact of Play-Based Learning on Early Childhood Development in South Africa

In KwaZulu-Natal, researchers are measuring the impact of the Six Bricks program, which promotes structured play using manipulative bricks combined with a set of carefully designed pedagogical activities, on preschoolers' executive function skills.

Citizen Demand for Corruption: Evidence from Roadway Tolls in the D.R. Congo

Otis Reid
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of incentives for motorcycle taxi drivers to pay the legal road tolls in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Results suggest that financial incentives reduced bribery by seven to ten percentage points.

The Role of Students' Mindset in Improving Educational Outcomes in France

Yann Algan
Axelle Charpentier
Coralie Chevallier
Elise Huillery
Psychosocial skills, such as motivation, perseverance and self-discipline, are increasingly considered to be at least as important as cognitive skills for educational attainment and labor market outcomes. Researchers evaluated the impact of a series of class discussions in middle school that...

Household Matters: Revisiting the Returns to Capital among Female Micro-entrepreneurs

Researchers re-examined data from previous studies in Ghana, India, and Sri Lanka to better understand the impact of credit and cash grant variations on micro-enterprise profits. Their results suggest that the gender gap in micro-enterprise performance was not due to ability, but rather to women’s...

Graduating Microenterprises to Larger Loans in Egypt

Previous research found that microcredit does not substantially improve borrowers’ income or social well-being, but less evidence exists on the impact of larger loans.