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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 a Job Search Planning Intervention on Job Search Efficiency and Employment Among Youth in South Africa

Researchers tested the impact of a job search planning intervention on job search efficiency and employment among unemployed youth in South Africa. The planning intervention improved participants’ job search intensity and efficiency, leading to higher rates of employment.

Candidate Debate Participation for Citizen Engagement and Electoral Outcomes in Liberia

Jeremy Bowles
Researchers evaluated a nationwide debate initiative in Liberia designed to solicit and rebroadcast policy promises from legislative candidates. Results indicated that when leading candidates participated in debates, citizens were more engaged and informed.

Meet Your Future – The Effect of Mentoring Ugandan Vocational Students on Employment and Earnings

Livia Alfonsi
Mary Namubiru
In Uganda, researchers introduced a mentoring program to evaluate the impact of interactions between young, successful vocational training graduates and current vocational training students on their employment status and earnings. Students who received mentoring were more likely to be working three...

The Role of Emotions on Individuals Decisions to Join Armed Groups in Eastern Congo

By leveraging a unique, long-lasting relationship with an armed organization in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the researcher aims to better understand who joins armed organizations and why, as well as the effect of the participation motives on performance inside the group.

The Impact of Nursery Quality, Empowerment, and Nutrition Interventions on Early Childhood Development and Women’s Employment in Egypt

Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a package of interventions with the aim of improving the quality of nurseries, enhancing nutrition, and empowering women to address poverty and promote early childhood development in Egypt.

The Impact of an Online Entrepreneurial Mindset Training for Youth in Ecuador

Guido Buenstorf
Diego d'Andria
Francisco Flores
David McKenzie
Mathis Schulte
Thomas Åstebro
Recent studies have shown that a psychology-based entrepreneurial mindset training can have promising effects on business outcomes. In Ecuador, researchers are evaluating whether these skills can be taught at scale and online by testing the effects of an entrepreneurial mindset training program on...

Digital Payments to Encourage the Use of Technology and Enable Secure, Efficient Transactions in Senegal's Informal Taxi Sector

Researchers introduced a digital payment system in Senegal's informal taxi sector to investigate how digital payments affected drivers' cash-handling costs and how allowing employers different levels of access to drivers' transactions affected driver effort, employment contracts, and the use of...

Impacts of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs on Voting in Honduras

In this randomized evaluation in Honduras, researchers assessed how the national Programa de Asignación Familiar (Family Allowance Program) CCT program, which provided a combination of transfers to households and transfers to support public goods, influenced voting in local and national elections...