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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.

Social Integration Effects of Pre-Migration Information Sessions in the Philippines

Victoria S. Licuanan
Andreas Steinmayr
Erwin Tiongson
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to investigate whether an expanded and more thorough version of an orientation program in the Philippines improved socioeconomic outcomes and facilitated settlement for migrants upon moving to the United States. The research team found that though the...

The Impact of Informational Meetings on Secondary School Choice in Kenya

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of short informational meetings with students and parents on secondary school choice. They found that these meetings increased students’ and parents’ knowledge of the application process and led students to pick lower-cost and more...

Vouchers for Private Schooling in Colombia

Joshua Angrist
Erik Bloom
Elizabeth King
Colombia used lotteries to distribute vouchers which partially covered the cost of private secondary school for students who maintained satisfactory academic progress. Three years after the lotteries, winners were about 10 percentage points more likely to have finished 8th grade, primarily because...

Perceptions of Female Leaders in India

Researchers studied the impact a quota system which randomly assigned villages in India to reserve village council positions for women. They found that quotas improved voters’ perceptions of the effectiveness of women as leaders and subsequently improved women’s electoral chances.

Household Water Connections in Tangier, Morocco

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to look at the effect of private connections in a setting where most households already had access to high-quality water through public taps. They found that households had a high willingness to pay for piped water, and while home water connection had no...

Incentives for Nurses in the Public Health Care System in Udaipur, India

Researchers worked with the NGO Seva Mandir to measure the impact of an incentives program that aimed to improve Assistant Nurse Midwife (ANM) attendance in rural clinics in Udaipur. Although the incentive program initially led to a large improvement in attendance, effects faded after the first six...

Professional Advising, Job Search Support and Apprenticeships for University Drop-Outs in France (AFIJ)

Pierre Cahuc
Florent Fremigacci
In 2009, researchers tested the relative effectiveness of different employment services targeted at university dropouts. Overall, intensive counseling increased the number of job interviews youth received and improved their perceptions of their career prospects and their trust in the private sector.

Contract Farming, Technology Adoption and Agricultural Productivity: Evidence from Small Scale Farmers in Western Kenya

In Western Kenya, researchers evaluated an SMS intervention whereby a large-agribusiness sent farmers with whom they contracted timely reminders on agricultural tasks to be completed. The SMS intervention was a cost-effective means of increasing yields, farmer revenue, and company profits. However...