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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.

Providing Conditional Cash Transfers to Encourage Childhood Immunization in Pakistan

Sara Abdullah
Danya Arif
Subhash Chandir
Aamir Khan
In Pakistan, researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of different types of mobile conditional cash transfers (mCCTs) on childhood immunization coverage and timeliness. Overall, small mCCTs led to increases in rates of immunization coverage at a low administrative cost. Additionally...

Positive Psychology for Psychological Well-Being and Decision-Making in Kenya

In Kenya, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a light-touch positive psychology intervention on psychological well-being and economic decision-making for low-income populations. The intervention had a positive impact on gratitude; however, it had no significant...

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...

Interest Rates, Loan Maturity and Demand for Microfinance Loans in South Africa

Researchers tested the assumption of price inelastic demand using a randomized evaluation in South Africa. The results suggest that the demand curves were downward sloping, and steeper for price increases relative to the lender’s standard rates. Researchers also found that loan size was far more...

Boosting Firms’ Productivity in Mexico with Consulting Services

In Mexico, researchers are testing whether this lagging productivity could be due to lower managerial capacity. They found that providing subsidized managerial consulting to Mexican SMEs boosted their productivity and hiring.

Safe Spaces with Vocational and Life Skills Training for Young Women's Economic and Social Empowerment in Uganda

In Uganda, researchers examined the impact of a combination of life skills and vocational training on adolescent girls’ engagement in income-generating activities, control over their bodies, and aspirations. The bundled provision of hard vocational and soft life skills training led to substantial...

Promoting Handwashing Behavior in Peru: The Effects of Large-Scale Community and School-Level Interventions

Researchers evaluated the impact of a large-scale handwashing intervention in Peru that introduced an innovative mix of mass media campaigns along with more intensive community activities, including educational sessions for caregivers and a handwashing curriculum in some schools. The program was...

Discrimination in Hiring and Anonymous CVs in France (CV Anonymes)

In collaboration with the French employment agency Pôle Emploi, researchers evaluated whether interview and hiring rates of minority candidates changed when employers collect anonymous resumes. Making resumes anonymous did not affect the average number of interviews and job offers volunteer firms...