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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.

What Generates Growth in Microenterprises? Evidence from Sri Lanka

To study the employment limitation of microenterprises, researchers offered microentrepreneurs capital to incentivize them to hire workers. Results showed that a wage subsidy did not lead to lasting increases in employment sales or profits.

School Fee Loans to Increase Students Educational Outcomes in Uganda

Researchers are evaluating the impact of a digital school fee loan, with and without a direct repayment incentive, on repayment rates, households’ well-being, and students’ educational outcomes.

Safe Cities: Improving the Citizen-Police Interface in Pakistan

Researchers partnered with the Punjab Safe Cities Authority to evaluate how to improve citizen’s access to and experience with police services.

Incentivizing Households to Save Energy in Hanoi, Vietnam

Jorge Lemus
Guillermo Marshall
Chi Ta
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation during the summer months of 2023 to test the impact of using contracts or contests to encourage energy savings and assess their cost-effectiveness. Researchers found that contests and contracts achieved similar levels of energy savings. However, contests...

Digital Delivery of Humanitarian Aid to Improve Food Security of Women in Afghanistan

Michael Findley
Miguel Fajardo Steinhäuser
Researchers evaluated a program delivering digital aid payments on food security and mental well-being for vulnerable female-headed households in Afghanistan. Digital payments led to improved food security and mental well-being for beneficiaries. Digital delivery of aid was also cost-effective and...

The Impact of Workers' Financial Stability on Their Workplace Productivity in India

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to gauge whether enhanced financial stability impacted worker productivity in India. They found that giving small-scale manufacturing workers financial relief in the form of early wage payments increased their productivity and attention to detail on the...