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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.

Slum Housing Upgrading in El Salvador, Mexico, and Uruguay

Ryan Cooper
Sebastian Martinez
Researchers measured the impact of improving the quality of slum housing on household wellbeing in El Salvador, Mexico, and Uruguay. Residents were selected to receive housing upgrades by lottery. Results show that slum upgrading significantly improved satisfaction with quality of life. In two...

The Impact of Secondary Education on Economic Decision-Making in Malawi

Researchers evaluated whether randomly providing financial support for secondary education could improve economic decision-making in addition to educational outcomes for secondary school students in Malawi. Results show that the intervention improved educational outcomes and economic decision-making...

Bolstering Coverage of Improved Sanitation in Bangladesh

Researchers evaluated the impact of different approaches designed to increase latrine coverage on actual latrine coverage, investment in hygienic latrines, and the prevalence of open defecation.

The Impact of a Gender-Sensitive Training for Police Officers on Gender-Based Violence in India

Researchers are evaluating the impact of a gender-sensitization training for police officers in Bihar, India, using expressive arts techniques, on police officers’ attitudes towards gender-based violence as well as women’s safety and economic agency.

Labor Market Training for the Unemployed in Denmark

Lars Skipper
Vocational training is often advocated as a means of maintaining and improving the qualifications of the labor force. However, it is also possible that time spent in vocational training simply displaces time spent working or looking for employment. Researchers evaluated the impact of a vocational...

School Communication Strategies and School Outcomes in France

In France, researchers evaluated the impact of various school communication strategies designed to encourage parents to participate in their children’s schooling. They found that personalized invitations increased parental participation in school meetings, especially for parents of low-performing...

Impact of Information on the Returns to Education on the Demand for Schooling in the Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic, researchers investigated families’ perceptions of the returns to education and whether providing information on the actual returns to education would change their schooling decisions. They found that students significantly underestimated the returns to secondary education...

Financial Training for Mineworkers in South Africa

Jeremy Shapiro
Financial access in South Africa has expanded rapidly in recent years and policymakers have identified financial education as a means to improve financial literacy and inclusion. To test this, researchers evaluated the impact of a financial literacy workshop on miners’ financial understanding...