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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.

Promoting Handwashing Behavior in Peru: The Effects of Large-Scale Community and School-Level Interventions

Researchers evaluated the impact of a large-scale handwashing intervention in Peru that introduced an innovative mix of mass media campaigns along with more intensive community activities, including educational sessions for caregivers and a handwashing curriculum in some schools. The program was...

The Impact of Cognitive Stimulation and Nutritional Supplements on Early Childhood Development in Colombia

Camila Fernandez
Emla Fitzsimons
Sally Grantham-McGregor
Marta Rubio-Codina
Early childhood is an important time for both physical and neurological growth and development, but many children fail to reach their development potential. Researchers introduced an early childhood development program in Colombia to test the effects of psychosocial stimulation and micronutrient...

Eliminating Behavioral Barriers to Saving through a Tablet App for the Base of the Pyramid in Paraguay

Viviane Azevedo
Liliana Olarte
Researchers are partnering with a financial institution in Paraguay to evaluate the impact of a range of tablet-based applications, which remind people to save and help them make savings goals, on savings behavior of low-income individuals.

Introducing Financial Services to Native Amazonians in Bolivia

Centering on one native Amazonian society (Tsimane’) and partnering with a Bolivian non- profit, researchers evaluated the impact of providing Tsimane’ households with lockboxes on their savings activity, consumption, and well-being. Providing lockboxes increased household financial assets but had...

The Use of Self-Help Groups as a Savings Commitment Device in Chile

Felipe Kast
Stephan Meier
Researchers in Chile compared the effects of self-help peer groups and text-message feedback on entrepreneurs’ ability to make regular deposits into a savings account. Receiving feedback by text message increased savings by almost as much as being a member of a self-help group, suggesting that the...

Accountability and Transparency in the Mining Sector of Peru

Researchers evaluated an accountability workshop program, which educated citizens on the distribution of extractive industry tax revenues and the formal means of local political participation. The program had mixed results on local government quality, increasing the likelihood of initiating recall...

Informing Policy with Research in Brazil

Juan Francisco Santini
Researchers partnered with the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) in Brazil to evaluate the impact of access to research results on policymakers’ demand for research findings and interest in adopting evidence-informed policies. Policymakers were willing to pay for research findings and...