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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 Role of Reference Letters and Skill Accreditation in the South African Labour Market

Employers in the low-skill and entry-level job market often lack information on job seekers’ abilities, which can reduce interview invitations and job offers for job seekers, especially for disadvantaged groups such as women. Researchers partnered with the South African Department of Labour to...

Letters of Recommendation for Youth Employment in the United States

Researchers partnered with SYEP employers to create personalized letters of recommendation for SYEP participants to evaluate the impact of recommendation letters on participants’ educational and employment outcomes after the program. Youth who received the letter of recommendation saw a 3 percentage...

Institutional reform and de facto women’s rights in Punjab, Pakistan

Kate Vyborny
Researchers are partnering with the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women to evaluate the impacts of a training program for registrars on their knowledge of and adherence to the law.

Do Students Benefit from Blended Instruction?

In partnership with Avanti Fellows, this study evaluates the impact of the Sankalp program, which provides teachers with resources and training to blend their instruction with video-based learning materials, on student’s math and science test scores.

Weekday vs. Weekend Text-Based Parenting Support in the United States

Hans Fricke
David Song
Ben York
In Texas, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of text message-based parenting support delivered at different times of the week on young children’s literacy and numeracy development. They found that text messages delivered on weekends were best for supporting children...

Laser-Branding Technologies to Increase the Quality of Watermelons in Chinese Markets

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of different types of labels to signal product quality on sellers’ ability to develop a reputation for consistently selling high-quality watermelons in China. The more expensive laser-cut label influenced sellers to provide higher...

Evaluating an Exporting Scheme in Tunisia

Giacomo De Giorgi
Aminur Rahman
To promote export diversification, the Tunisian government is implementing a $22 million export matching-grant scheme, TASDIR+. TASDIR+ aims to increase exports and promote export diversification toward higher value-added exports and new markets. This study is using a randomized controlled trial to...

The Impact of Outreach and Assistance from Navigators on Medicaid Renewals in the United States

Allison Espeseth
Researchers assessed the impact of outreach on Medicaid retention; outreach messages provided a reminder to renew as well as information about how to obtain free one-on-one assistance with renewal processes from health insurance navigators. Outreach using pre-recorded calls prevented denials due to...