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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.

Tailored Microcredit in Rural Morocco

Researchers are evaluating the impact of improved microcredit loan design on its take-up, as well as the welfare and business conditions of borrowers.

Priming Adverse Events and Reports of Depression in Nigeria

Kevin McGee
Gbemisola Oseni
Julie Perng
Ryoko Sato
Tomomi Tanaka
Renos Vakis
To better understand how to measure and report depression, researchers randomized the order of questions in a national survey to examine the effect of triggering memories of difficult events, such as conflicts, shocks, and death, on reported levels of depression across households in Nigeria. They...

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Learning in Brazil

Lycia Lima
Flávio Riva
Researchers evaluated the learning impacts of using AI systems to score and comment on essays written for Brazil’s national post-secondary admission exam. In schools where AI technology was introduced, teachers were able to provide more frequent individualized feedback to students, and students’...

Revealing Stereotypes about Immigrant Students to Middle School Teachers in Italy

Researchers evaluated the impact of informing middle school teachers in Italy about their implicit stereotypes towards immigrant students on end-of-year grading. Both math and literature teachers eligible to receive feedback before the end-of-the-year grading gave higher grades to immigrant students...

Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL)

Justin Sandefur
Wayne Sandholtz
Researchers worked with Innovations for Poverty Action, the Liberian Ministry of Education, and the group of eight private operators to conduct a randomized evaluation to assess the effects of outsourcing management of public schools after one and three years.

Cash and Compliance with Social Distancing in Ghana

The researchers aim to understand the role that digital cash transfers can play as a policy tool both to increase household resilience during the pandemic and to stem the spread of the disease by increasing adherence to social distancing in Ghana.

Providing Financial Incentives and Behavioral Nudges to Encourage Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake in the United States

Tom Chang
Rajiv Pramanik
Samir Shah
Researchers evaluated the impact of financial incentives, public health video messages, and access to a vaccine scheduling link on Covid-19 vaccination intentions and vaccine take-up in the United States. None of the interventions led to increases in vaccine take-up after thirty days. In a...