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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.

Contraceptive Adoption, Fertility, and the Family in Zambia

Women who received private access to vouchers for contraceptives were more likely to take up and use contraception, compared to women whose husbands were involved in the voucher program.

Demand for Rainfall Insurance in India

Xavier Giné
Daniel Stein
Jeremy Tobacman
Petia B. Topalova
Robert Townsend
James Vickery
Researchers tested how demand for weather insurance responded to different marketing schemes and price discounts. They found that demand was very price sensitive, but that poor understanding of the product, distrust of insurance agents, and liquidity constraints also limited take-up.

Responses to Degree of Control over Remittances in El Salvador

Diego Aycinena
Claudia Martinez
Researchers partnered with Banco Agrícola to conduct a randomized evaluation that offered a way for Salvadoran migrants to directly channel some fraction of their remittances into savings accounts in El Salvador. Results indicate that a desire for control over remittance uses—in particular the...

Reducing Barriers to Savings in Rural Malawi

Lasse Brune
Xavier Giné
Researchers analyzed the effect of reducing barriers to saving in rural Malawi on savings behavior, investment in agricultural inputs, and consumption. They found that farmers with access to formal savings accounts preserved greater amounts of savings throughout both the harvest and planting seasons...

Recruiting and Motivating Community Health Workers in Zambia

The Government of Zambia partnered with researchers to test the effect of two different recruitment strategies for a newly created healthcare position, the Community Health Assistant (CHA). One strategy emphasized career opportunities and the other emphasized the contributions one could make in the...

Improving Brick Manufacturing in Bangladesh to Promote Clean Air and Better Health

Researchers evaluated the impact of trainings for brick kiln owners and operators on air pollution, CO2 emissions, and kiln profitability.