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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.

Targeting Foundational Skills to Improve Learning at Scale in Zambia

Andreas de Barros
Theresa Lubozha
Researchers studied Zambia's Teaching at the Right Level program, delivered by government teachers nationwide, using a pre-registered cluster-randomized trial and an event study covering 4.4 million exam scores. After two years, the program improved children’s foundational literacy and numeracy...

Reducing Corruption Among Local Politicians in Benin

Andre Gueguehoun
Romaric Samson
Many governments have devolved some political and economic authority to local entities, hoping to achieve more accountable and effective governance at the local level. Yet political corruption often hinders effective delivery of local services like water, sanitation, or primary education. Increasing...

Participation and Regulatory Compliance Amongst Firms in Vietnam

Edmund Malesky
Markus Taussig
Researchers evaluated whether participating in the law-making process influenced firms’ compliance with regulations in Vietnam. Firms that participated in the drafting of new regulation had more positive views of the government’s regulatory authority, were more likely to allow auditors to examine...

Commitment Savings Accounts for Farmers in Rwanda

Maria Jones
Florence Kondylis
In an ongoing study, researchers are aiming to identify product features that increase demand for commitment savings accounts and evaluate the effect of the accounts on farm investments and yields.

Unconditional Cash Transfers to Increase General Welfare and Local Public Finance in Kenya

Providing cash grants to low-income households without any strings attached has been proven to have various benefits on the lives of those who receive the transfers, but less is known about how this sudden influx of income affects the local economy and people living nearby. In western Kenya...

Combining Soil-Specific Recommendations with Vouchers to Increase Fertilizer Use and Yields among Farmers in Tanzania

Nyambilila Amuri
Aurélie P. Harou
Malgosia Madajewicz
Christopher Magomba
Cheryl A. Palm
Johnson M. Semoka
Kevin Tschirhart
Ray Weil
Small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa have limited information about the soil nutrient limitations of their own plots and what fertilizers to use to address them.

The Impact of Temporary Subsidies and Financial Education on Demand for Weather Insurance in China

To better understand why people do or do not buy insurance, researchers partnered with the People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) to conduct a randomized evaluation of an insurance subsidy and financial education program in Jiangxi province, China. Providing free insurance for one year increased...

Education Mismatch and Motivational Messages

Giacomo De Giorgi
Sebastián Otero
Researchers are evaluating the impact of providing information on national rank and scholarships can reduce dropout among high-performing students.