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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 Impact of Job Networks on Women's Recruitment in Malawi

Researchers introduced a recruitment drive for a firm in Malawi to evaluate the impact of referral-based hiring on women’s employment at the company. Results from the randomized evaluation indicate that men systematically referred fewer women, and women’s referral of other qualified women was not...

The Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers on Consumption and Household Balance Sheets in the United States

David E. Broockman
Patrick Krause
Elizabeth Rhodes
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation testing the impact of monthly cash transfers of $1,000 to low-income individuals in Texas and Illinois on household expenditures, debts and assets, and financial health. The study found that receiving the cash transfer increased spending by $310 per...

Channeling Remittances to Education in El Salvador

Kate Ambler
Diego Aycinena
Researchers found that subsidizing Salvadoran migrants’ remittances for education increased spending on education and attendance at private schools for their female relatives in El Salvador.

Partisan Mail and Voter Turnout in the United States

Matthew Green
Through a randomized evaluation, researchers examined the effects of partisan mail campaigns on voter turnout in state and municipal elections in Connecticut and New Jersey. Results indicate that partisan direct mail campaigns do little to stimulate voter turnout.

Powering Small Retailers: The Adoption of Solar Energy under Different Pricing Schemes in Kenya

Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, is struggling with an ageing energy infrastructure and low connectivity to the power grid. William Jack and affiliate Tavneet Suri (MIT) study the impact of off-grid solar power on small retailers in Nairobi.

Online Customer Discrimination against Female Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa

Matthew Pecenco
Edward Rubin
Researchers evaluated the impact of gender-based discrimination on female teleworkers’ productivity in online sales interactions with customers in Africa. When a customer chat representative had a female-sounding name, it led to significantly fewer purchases, and slower and more reserved reactions...

Improving the Effectiveness of Vouchers for Free Family Planning after Childbirth in Kenya

Allison Ettenger
Faith Muigai
Claire Watt Rothschild
In partnership with Jacaranda Health, researchers evaluated a family planning program that provided pregnant women with varying combinations of vouchers for free modern contraception and reminders of the importance of family planning. While none of the combinations increased self-reported use of...

Health Care Hotspotting in the United States

Joel Cantor
Margaret Koller
Aaron Truchil
Annetta Zhou
Rapidly rising health care costs in the United States have generated interest in identifying effective ways to improve the quality of care delivery and reduce waste within the health care system. In this study, researchers evaluated the impact of a care management program that provides medical and...