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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.

Information to Increase Fuel Efficient Car Purchases in the United States

Researchers studied the impact of providing information about fuel costs on consumers’ car purchases. Providing information about fuel costs had no effect on the fuel efficiency of the vehicles consumers chose to buy.

The Impact of Cash Transfers on Delivery Planning and Maternal Care Quality in Kenya

Ginger Golub
Margaret E Kruk
Katherine Lofgren
George N. Omondi
Claire Rothschild
Researchers evaluated whether cash transfers and decision-making nudges could help low-income pregnant women in Nairobi, Kenya deliver where they wanted and in a high-quality facility. They found that cash transfers, conditioned on precommitment to a delivery facility, led to more effective birth...

The Effect of Incentive-Based Pay in the Weatherization Assistance Program on Energy Efficiency in Illinois

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of the Illinois Home Weatherization Assistance Program (IHWAP), which aims to improve energy efficiency in low-income households. The study tested the impact of performance-based pay for contractors implementing air sealing retrofits as part of IHWAP...

The Effects of Misperceptions of Social Norms on Female Labor Force Participation in Saudi Arabia

Researchers evaluated whether offering men in Saudi Arabia simple information on other men’s perceptions of female labor force participation impacts their willingness to let their wives join the labor force. Wives of men who received this information were significantly more likely to have applied...

Mass Media Experiments to Reduce Violence Against Women in Tanzania

Dylan Groves
Rachel Jones
Building on an earlier study in Uganda, researchers are working with Innovations for Poverty Action to measure the impact of radio programming on gender-related attitudes and behaviors.

Informing Policy with Research in Brazil

Juan Francisco Santini
Researchers partnered with the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) in Brazil to evaluate the impact of access to research results on policymakers’ demand for research findings and interest in adopting evidence-informed policies. Policymakers were willing to pay for research findings and...