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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.

Impact of Community Information in Identifying High Ability Microentrepreneurs

Identifying high-potential microentrepreneurs in low-income countries remains a challenge due to lack of verifiable information. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the value of community knowledge in identifying high-potential microentrepreneurs.

Alleviating Loneliness Among Female Migrant Garment Workers in India

Researchers are launching a randomized evaluation to explore the impact of interventions that foster friendships and enhance problem solving skills on the mental health and labor market outcomes of young women working in a garment factory.

Impacts of Nonpartisan Political Information on Electoral Accountability in Mexico

Leveraging the increasingly widespread use of social media, researchers conducted a large-scale randomized evaluation to test the direct and indirect impact on electoral accountability of a nonpartisan information campaign delivered via Facebook ads during the 2018 Mexican municipal elections...

School Meals, Educational Achievement and School Finance in Kenya

Christel Vermeersch
Researchers examined the effects of subsidized school meals on school participation, educational achievement, and school finance in Western Kenya. The results suggest that the meals program led to improved school participation, as well as higher curriculum test scores, but only in schools where the...

Interest Rate Sensitivity Among Village Banking Clients in Mexico

Researchers measured the impact of different interest rates loan take-up, amount, and repayment rates among female clients of Compartamos Banco in Mexico. Lower interest rates led to an increase in the number of loans issued, loan amounts, and new borrowers but did not increase profits in the short...

Countering Covid-19 Misinformation through WhatsApp in Zimbabwe

In this randomized evaluation in Zimbabwe, researchers studied how social media messages targeting misinformation can affect people’s beliefs about and responses toward Covid-19. The study found that these messages increased participants’ knowledge of Covid-19 information by 7 percentage points and...

Flexible Repayment Schedules for Dairy Clients in India

This evaluation studies the effects of flexible repayment schedules on borrowers’ investment level, consumption, and loan default in the dairy industry in India.

The Impact of Personalized Information on Informed School Choice in Chile

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of an information program on parental school choice and long-term student achievement. They found that the intervention shifted household school choices of those who were not enrolled before the intervention toward establishments...