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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.

The Effect of Discussion Group Composition on Policy Preferences in the United States

In a series of three evaluations throughout the United States, researchers evaluated the effect of group composition on individual participants’ political views. They found little evidence that the ideological and demographic complexion of the group influenced post-discussion opinions.

Spanish-language Radio Advertisements and Latinx Voter Turnout in the 2006 Congressional Elections

Costas Panagopoulos
Researchers tested the impact of non-partisan Spanish-language radio campaigns on Latinx voter turnout in the November 2006 congressional elections. These radio advertisements significantly increased Latinx voting rates.

Impact of Rainfall Insurance on Farmer Behavior in India

Xavier Giné
James Vickery
In India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test how the provision of rainfall index insurance affected farmer production decisions, focusing on the decision to grow cash crops. They found that providing insurance led farmers to shift production towards higher-risk, higher-return cash...

Countering Covid-19 Misinformation through WhatsApp in Zimbabwe

In this randomized evaluation in Zimbabwe, researchers studied how social media messages targeting misinformation can affect people’s beliefs about and responses toward Covid-19. The study found that these messages increased participants’ knowledge of Covid-19 information by 7 percentage points and...

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...

The Impact of Personalized Information on Informed School Choice in Chile

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of an information program on parental school choice and long-term student achievement. They found that the intervention shifted household school choices of those who were not enrolled before the intervention toward establishments...

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...

Improving Women’s Labor and Welfare Outcomes through Microfinance in Uganda

Researchers in rural Western Uganda tested whether a microfinance program can help women borrowers switch out of subsistence agriculture to other labor activities, such as entrepreneurship or small-scale trading. While microloans helped women switch into service-based jobs including small-scale...