Blog

News

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.

The Impact of Group-Based Grain Storage Schemes on Farmers’ Savings and Incomes in Kenya

Jonathan Robinson
Researchers worked with existing savings clubs in Kenya to study the effect of two interventions on savings: the provision of communal crop storage devices and the provision of savings accounts earmarked for farm purchases. Researchers find that the products were popular: about 56% of farmers took...

Improving Access to Information to Facilitate Moves to Opportunity

Researchers added school-quality information onto housing listings on the AffordableHousing.com (formerly GoSection8) website, the largest provider of housing listings for HCV recipients, to evaluate the impact on families search for housing and their residential locations. The researchers found...

The Impact of Existing Account Usage on the Likelihood of Switching Accounts in Malawi

Xavier Giné
Researchers partnered with a local bank to learn how customers chose between two account types—an account that had been offered for many years, which carried high monthly fees but no individual transaction costs, or a new type of account that charged for each withdrawal but did not impose monthly...

Applying Behavioral Insights to Improve Tax Enforcement in Poland

Nina Mazar
Roberto Claudio Sormani
In partnership with the Polish Tax Office, researchers conducted a nation-wide randomized evaluation to test the impact of sending tax enforcement letters with behavioral messages on tax compliance among delinquent taxpayers. The results indicate that behavioral letters significantly improved tax...

Reducing Gender Differences in Financial Literacy and Confidence in Israel

Moses Shayo
Researchers evaluated the impacts of increased exposure to financial markets on participants’ financial literacy and investment behavior in Israel, and found it reduced the gender gap in financial literacy and confidence. They found that engaging in financial markets increased participants'...

Increasing Caloric Intake to Improve Hours Worked, Earnings, and Physical and Cognitive Abilities in India

Low-income populations throughout the world often consume very few calories. At the time of this intervention in 2013, over 800 million people globally consumed fewer calories than were recommended to maintain a healthy weight. However, the impact of low caloric intake on economic productivity is...