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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.

Finding Missing Markets: An Agricultural Brokerage Intervention in Kenya

Researchers evaluated whether a package of services, designed to help link smallholder farmers to commercial banks, retail farm suppliers, transportation services, and exporters, could help small farmers in Kenya adopt, finance, and market export crops, and thus make more income. One year after the...

Small Individual Loans and Mental Health in South Africa

Rita Hamad
Emily Ozer
This evaluation examined the direct impact of providing small consumer loans to marginally creditworthy individuals in South Africa on their credit access, investment, and well-being, as well as the profitability of these loans for lenders. Results found approving loans for marginally creditworthy...

Messaging Strategies to Promote Safe Water and Hygiene in Bangladesh

Kaniz Jannat
David Levine
Thomas Polley
Leanne Unicomb
Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but...

Counseling the Unemployed in France (OPP/CVE)

An intensive counseling program for job seekers at risk of long-term unemployment in France helped them find work sooner than the standard low-intensity counseling program, and the counseling was more effective when provided by a public agency than by private contractors.

Flexible Repayment Schedules for Dairy Clients in India

This evaluation studies the effects of flexible repayment schedules on borrowers’ investment level, consumption, and loan default in the dairy industry in India.

Providing a Collaborative Civic Education Program to Students in France, Greece, and Spain

Sandra McNally
Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela
Daniel Santín
Researchers evaluated the impact of a civic education program involving learning-by-doing and student-centered teaching approaches in middle schools across three European countries. The program increased students’ academic performance, respect for school rules, and friendship networks with people...

Savings Account Labeling and Financial Literacy Training for Susu Customers

In this evaluation, researchers seek to understand if a purely psychological savings product, which encourages customers to earmark account funds for a specific financial goal, increases savings rates. Preliminary results found that customers with a labeled Susu savings account have more total...

Evaluating Village Savings and Loan Associations in Uganda

Beniamino Savonitto
Bram Thuysbaert
Researchers in Uganda assessed the impact of VSLAs on access to financial services, income, food security, and education.