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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.

Increasing Caloric Intake to Improve Hours Worked, Earnings, and Physical and Cognitive Abilities in India

Low-income populations throughout the world often consume very few calories. At the time of this intervention in 2013, over 800 million people globally consumed fewer calories than were recommended to maintain a healthy weight. However, the impact of low caloric intake on economic productivity is...

The Impact of a Public Sector Management Program on Student Learning Outcomes in India

In India, researchers evaluated the impact of a public sector management program involving comprehensive assessments of schools, detailed school ratings, and customized school improvement plans, on school functioning and student learning. Researchers found that the MPSQA program was successful in...

Improving Student Learning through Classroom Technology Adoption in Pakistan

Waqas Halim
Umar Saif
Researchers partnered with the Government of Pakistan to conduct two parallel randomized evaluations to test the impact of providing supplemental teaching materials on the quality of student learning and teachers’ effectiveness. Overall, the eLearn Classroom intervention improved student achievement...

Offering Cash and In-Kind Transfers to Grow and Sustain Microenterprises in Sri Lanka

Researchers provided small one-time grants to microenterprises in Sri Lanka to measure the impact of the additional capital on business profits two and five years later. They found that cash and in-kind grants increased business profits for male owners in the short and long term, but did not lead to...

Leveraging Local Governments to Support Rice Mechanization in India

Working with local government leaders and agricultural extension agents, the researcher is conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of promoting a mechanization technology. Uniquely, the researcher will closely track how employment shifts for women who formerly did the mechanized work.

Improving Women’s Labor and Welfare Outcomes through Microfinance in Uganda

Researchers in rural Western Uganda tested whether a microfinance program can help women borrowers switch out of subsistence agriculture to other labor activities, such as entrepreneurship or small-scale trading. While microloans helped women switch into service-based jobs including small-scale...

Testing the impact of antimalarial discounts on overtreatment in Mali

Carolina Lopez
Researchers varied patients’ information about a discount on treatment for simple malaria and measuring take-up of treatment to identify the factors driving overtreatment. While patient pressure on doctors in response to the discount led to excess prescription of antimalarials, there was no evidence...

Gender-specific managerial training program and firm productivity in Colombia

Researchers are evaluating the impact of providing a gender-specific managerial training program on career advancement prospects for women and workplace productivity.