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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 Message Loan Repayment Reminders for Micro-Borrowers in the Philippines

In “the text message capital of the world,” the Philippines, researchers tested the effect of text message reminders on client repayment rates. In contrast with previous research, they found that text message reminders did not increase repayment on average. Yet for repeat borrowers, who had known...

Microfinance to Increase Agricultural Technology Adoption among Rural Farmers in India

Christopher Robert
Researchers evaluated the expansion of a rural financial services provider in Tamil Nadu, India in order to understand how access to financial services, information, and exposure to risk affect technology adoption and well-being among farming households.

The Impact of Employment and Cash Transfers on Psychosocial Wellbeing in Bangladesh

Erin Kelley
Fatima Zahra
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of employment on refugee psychosocial well-being in Bangladesh. The study found that employment generated significant psychosocial value beyond that from cash transfers alone.

Leveraging Local Governments to Support Rice Mechanization in India

Working with local government leaders and agricultural extension agents, the researcher is conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of promoting a mechanization technology. Uniquely, the researcher will closely track how employment shifts for women who formerly did the mechanized work.

School Grants and Parents' Education Spending in India

Pramila Krishnan
Venkatesh Sundararaman
Researchers studied how a school grant program affected learning outcomes and household spending. After the first year of the grant program, students in treatment schools performed significantly better than those in comparison schools, but by the end of the second year, there was no detectable...

Improving Targeting of a Conditional Cash Transfer Program in Indonesia

Vivi Alatas
Ririn Purnamasari
Matthew Wai-Poi
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation with the Indonesian government that compared self-targeting to automatic screening in the context of a conditional cash transfer program. Requiring households to apply for a cash transfer program in Indonesia discouraged rich households from seeking out...