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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.

Video-Mediated Agricultural Extension to Increase Technology Adoption Among Farmers in Ethiopia

Gashaw Abate
Simrin Makhija
David J. Spielman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a video-mediated extension approach on the uptake of technologies recommended by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The video-mediated instruction increased uptake through improved access to extension and farmer knowledge but...

Improving Governance Through Biometric Authentication and Secure Payments in India

In India, a biometrically authenticated payment system reduced corruption and substantially improved the delivery of government social assistance programs despite partial implementation.

Marketing Rainfall Insurance in India

Sarthak Gaurav
Jeremy Tobacman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing financial literacy education alongside various marketing strategies to small-scale farmers in Gujarat, India, on their demand for rainfall index insurance. Financial education had a significant effect on adoption of...

The Role of the VAT for Tax Enforcement

The Value Added Tax (VAT) system, which generates a paper trail on transactions between firms, facilitated tax enforcement by spreading the impact of enforcement measures up the production chain in a study with over 400,000 firms in Chile.

Reducing Imbalanced Fertilizer Use Through Rule-Of-Thumb Instructions in Bangladesh

Mahnaz Islam
Fertilizer use has been promoted to boost agricultural productivity and increase farmers’ yields and income. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation among rice farmers in Bangladesh to evaluate the impact of providing leaf color charts and basic training on the quantity and timing of...