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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.

Gender Violence and School Achievement in Mozambique

Sofia Amaral
Aixa Garcia-Ramos
Sarita Ore-Quispe
In Mozambique, researchers are evaluating the GBV and schooling impacts of implementing a GBV curriculum targeted at students.

Offering Cash and In-Kind Transfers to Grow and Sustain Microenterprises in Sri Lanka

Researchers provided small one-time grants to microenterprises in Sri Lanka to measure the impact of the additional capital on business profits two and five years later. They found that cash and in-kind grants increased business profits for male owners in the short and long term, but did not lead to...

The Impact of Providing Land Tax Subsidies, Local Monitoring, and Minikits on Irrigation Use in Rwanda

Maria Jones
Florence Kondylis
John Loeser
Building off of previous quasi-experimental research, researchers conducted three randomized evaluations to test the impact of providing farmers with land tax subsidies, different ways of monitoring water access and the canal’s operations and maintenance, or farming minikits on farmers' use of...

The Impact of Emergency Rental Assistance on Housing Stability during Covid-19 in the United States

Researchers leveraged existing randomization to evaluate the impact of ERA programs during the pandemic in four urban areas in the United States on measures of housing stability, financial security, and mental health. Receipt of rental assistance increased rent payment in the short term and modestly...

Reducing Covid-19 Infections and Holiday Travel through Social Media Campaigns in the United States

By running a Facebook public health campaign, researchers found that social media messaging from doctors and nurses reduced holiday travel and subsequent Covid-19 infection rates. This suggests that social media campaigns may be an impactful and cost-effective way to slow the spread of Covid-19 and...

The Impacts of Computer-Based Individualized Instruction on Math Learning in India

Andreas de Barros
Alejandro Ganimian
In partnership with an education assessment firm, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to isolate the impact of computer-based individualized instruction in India. After nine months, lower-performing students in grades six to eight learned 22 percent of a standard deviation more in math if...

Marketing Effects in a Consumer Credit Market in South Africa (Pricing the Effect of Psychological "Features")

Working closely with a highly profitable consumer lender in South Africa, researchers sought to determine the effects of advertising content, price, and offer deadlines on loan take up. They found the marketing had significant effects on loan take up, but not on loan amount or default rates. Clients...

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...