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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.

Interest Rate Subsidies and Savings Behavior in Kenya

A randomized evaluation in rural Kenya found that offering higher short-term interest rates on a savings account substantially increased bank account use two and a half years for after the promotional rate ended. Offering the interest rate promotion on individual bank accounts also increased...

Soft Skills Training on Enterprise and Employment Growth in Tanzania

In this study, researchers explored the impact of a soft-skills training program on youth employment.

Donor Response to Aid Effectiveness in a Direct Mail Fundraising Experiment in the United States

Daniel H. Wood
Researchers examined whether individuals gave more after receiving information about a charity’s impact. They found that providing potential donors with rigorous evidence about a charity’s effectiveness increased the likelihood of giving to a major U.S. charity for large prior donors, but decreased...

Election Fraud and Government Legitimacy in Afghanistan

Researchers evaluated the impact of photographic monitoring technology on aggregation fraud and perceptions of government legitimacy during the 2010 parliamentary elections in Afghanistan. The announcement of a new monitoring technology reduced both theft of election materials and vote counts for...

Returns to Information and Temporary Discounts on Remittances for Guatemalan and Salvadoran Migrants in Washington DC

Kate Ambler
Diego Aycinena
Researchers evaluated two programs to explore factors that may influence the amount of remittances people send: a temporary discount on the transaction fee and the provision of information about the returns to education in their home country. While the information about education did not change...

Improving Student Learning through Pay-for-Performance Teacher Contracts in Rwanda

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of pay for performance contracts on teachers’ qualities, effort, and student learning in Rwanda. Pay for performance improved teacher effort, particularly their presence in classroom and their pedagogical effectiveness, and raised...

The Impact of Employment on High-Risk Men in Liberia

Jeannie Annan
In Liberia, researchers tested the effect of an intensive agricultural training program that also provided agricultural supplies and psychosocial counseling on employment activities, income, and socio-political integration. Fourteen months after the program, participants spent more time working in...