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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.

Impacts and Challenges of a Teacher Training Program in Nepal

Julie Schaffner
Uttam Sharma
Training teachers to improve teacher quality and student learning is a common strategy taken by policymakers. In Nepal, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a government teacher training program for math and science teachers to evaluate the impact on student learning in secondary schools...

Information Disclosure, Incentives, and Energy Costs in the United States

Richard Sweeney
Researchers worked with a large nationwide retailer in the United States to test whether sharing information, and providing subsidies and sales incentives had an effect on the demand for energy efficient water heaters. Results showed that information alone did not increase demand, and a $100 rebate...

Offering Amenities to Increase Health Care Demand in Mexico

Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of offering a high-amenity diagnostic consultation for cataracts at different prices on uptake of an underutilized service—cataract surgery—in Mexico. Lower prices for the high-amenity consultation increased exposure to amenities, which...

The Impact of a Gender-Transformative Participatory Intervention on Intimate Partner Violence and HIV Risk Behaviors in Ethiopia

Vandana Sharma
Fabio Verani
Researchers evaluated the effect of a gender-transformative skills-building program on IPV incidence, HIV risk behaviors, and other health outcomes in rural Ethiopia. Overall, the program led to reductions in IPV when delivered to groups of men, but not when delivered to couples or to women only...

A Safer Monitoring Tool to Help Workers Report Harassment in Bangladesh

Researchers evaluated how different ways of asking questions in surveys affect workers’ likelihood of reporting harassment at a firm in Bangladesh. A survey technique that gave people plausible deniability led to workers reporting more abuses, allowing the firm to access more accurate data on the...

The Role of Application Assistance and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA Experiment

Bridget Terry Long
Lisa Sanbonmatsu
Researchers evaluated the effect of providing assistance in completing the application and personalized information regarding financial aid eligibility to low-income individuals receiving tax preparation help. The intervention increased FAFSA submissions and college enrollment, college persistence...