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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.

Digital Credit Literacy Campaign in Malawi

Valentina Brailovskaya
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a financial literacy interactive voice response campaign on loan outcomes. The intervention boosted knowledge and slightly improved loan repayment, but it also raised loan demand, increasing the overall risk of default.

The Direct and Indirect Effects of Female Training Interventions in a Traditional Society

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a nursing skills training program targeting female youth based in Assiut and Sohag, Egypt, on employment outcomes on the treated group and more importantly, their local social network.

Legal Aid for Family Reunification and Child Well-Being in Chile

Ryan Cooper
Andrés Hojman
Researchers partnered with the Chilean government to conduct a randomized evaluation of Mi Abogado, a comprehensive legal aid program for children living in residential care, to test its impact on family reunification and child well-being. Children assigned to Mi Abogado spent more time living with...

The Impact of Teaching Teachers to Use Computer Assisted Learning on Student Math Performance in the United States

Researchers conducted two randomized evaluations to test the impact of coaching teachers on integrating CAL in their elementary and middle school mathematics instruction in two large, diverse school districts in the United States. The intervention led to improved math performance in one evaluation...

Extending Health Insurance to the Informal Sector Through Microfinance in Nicaragua

Freddy Solis Diaz
Anne Fitzpatrick
Martha Azucena Gonzalez
Laurel Hatt
Mursaleena Islam
This evaluation measured the determinants of insurance enrollment as well as the impacts of having insurance for informal sector workers by randomly varying the costs and convenience of signing up for a government health insurance program available to formal and informal sector workers in Nicaragua...

Increasing the Demand for Workers with a Criminal Record in the United States

Zoe Cullen
Mitchell Hoffman
Workers with criminal records face substantially lower chances of securing employment compared to similar workers without such records. Researchers evaluated the effectiveness of different approaches, including wage subsidies, crime and safety insurance, past performance reviews, criminal record...

Measuring the Impact of Microfinance in Hyderabad, India

Researchers evaluated the impact of increased access to microcredit on the economic and social well-being of women and their families in Hyderabad, India. They found that microcredit had mixed effects on business activities and little to no effect on women’s empowerment or children’s education.

The Psychology of Debt: An Experiment in the Philippines

Researchers are testing whether giving vendors money to pay off their outstanding debts or offering financial literacy trainings can help break these borrowers' cycles of debt.