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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.

Supporting 18-25 Year-Olds Through Long-Term Mentoring Plus Financial Assistance in France (Pass' Accompagnement)

Vera Chiodi
Nicolas Studer
In France, researchers evaluated the effect of a financial independence and social integration program for young adults living in government-subsidized housing. They analyzed its impact on the young adults’ professional lives, housing situations, financial independence, and general welfare.

Information and Price Variations to Reduce Residential Energy Use in the United States

Researchers evaluated the effects of introducing price increases during peak periods and also real-time information about electricity usage to residential customers in the United States. Households that received feedback about usage reduced consumption and individuals were more responsive to pricing...

Overcoming Barriers to Fertilizer Use in Kenya

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of offering coupons, facilitated discussion groups, and measuring spoons on fertilizer usage, fertilizer knowledge, and agriculture-related discussions amongst farmers. While discussion groups alone had no impact on fertilizer use...

The Impact of Credit Scores on Lending in Colombia

Ximena Cadena
Alexandra Cristea
Héber M. Delgado-Medrano
Researchers examined whether small incentives and short-term goals could encourage Colombian loan officers to stop procrastinating. Under the new incentive structure, loan officers spread their work more evenly throughout each month, and they met a much greater percentage of their monthly targets.

Increasing Mobile Banking Use Among Rural Populations in Ghana

Researchers assessed the impact of financial incentives and peer endorsement on mobile banking adoption and formal savings in Ghana. While financial incentives boosted adoption by 50 percent, peer endorsement was twice as effective, leading to sustained mobile banking use and a 30 percent increase...

The Impact of PROGRESA on Health in Mexico

Simone Peart Boyce
Conditional cash transfer (CCT) programs are designed to incentivize parents to invest in their children's health and wellbeing, while providing cash transfers to improve their current welfare. Researchers evaluated the impact of Mexico’s national CCT program (“PROGRESA”) on a wide range of health...

Maternal Literacy and Participation Programs for Child Learning in India

Researcher evaluated whether mothers’ literacy classes and home-learning participation trainings could improve children’s learning outcomes. The interventions had small positive impacts on mother and child learning levels.

Prompting Microfinance Borrowers to Save in Guatemala

Researchers partnered with the largest public bank in Guatemala to measure the impact of light-touch financial products, such as reminders and suggested ‘default’ savings contribution levels, on the savings behavior of microfinance borrowers. Clients who were prompted to save through default...