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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.

Text Messages as Reminders for Antiretroviral Medication Adherence in Kenya

Researchers introduced text message reminders to evaluate their effect on Kenyan patients taking their antiretrovirals consistently and not skipping doses. Patients who received weekly text messages were more likely to take their medicine 90 percent of the time and were less likely to skip doses for...

The Impact of Physician Training on Health Costs and Outcomes in the United States

Joseph Doyle
Steven Ewer
Todd Wagner
Researchers studied the impact of physician training on the cost and quality of care in a large hospital that randomly allocated patients to teams of physicians from residency programs affiliated with one of two different medical schools. Costs for patients treated by physicians affiliated with the...

Student Incentive Structures in Malawi

Hyuncheol Kim
Hyuk Harry Son
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of two different performance-based incentives on students’ test scores, motivation, and behavior in Malawi. They find that tournament-style incentives that rewarded the top performers among a large group lowered test scores and student...

Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan

Businesses may be slow to adopt a new technology even when it offers clear benefits. Researchers introduced a new fabric cutting technology to a randomly selected group of soccer ball manufacturers in Pakistan, but very few firms adopted it. They hypothesized that the most likely explanation for low...

Educational Vouchers and Altruism in the United States

Robert Slonim
Researchers studied the impact of private school vouchers on the altruism, or selfless concern for others, of children and their parents. Voucher recipients demonstrated more altruism towards charitable organizations, but not towards their peers.

Kenyan Government Bonds as a Savings Tool

Charity Wayua
Researchers investigated the impact of a new product that allowed Kenyans to invest small amounts of money in low-risk, high-return infrastructure bonds using their mobile phones. However, lack of awareness and low product take-up, triggered by logistical issues during implementation and a pending...

Community-Led Transparency and Accountability for Maternal and Child Health in Indonesia and Tanzania

Jean Arkedis
Jessica Creighton
Akshay Dixit
Archon Fung
Stephen Kosack
Courtney Tolmie
In Indonesia and Tanzania, researchers conducted a mixed methods randomized evaluation of a transparency and accountability program designed to improve maternal and newborn health (MNH) outcomes, known as the Transparency for Development (T4D) program. While the T4D program drew strong participation...