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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.

Providing Endowments to Improve Bargaining Outcomes for Microentrepreneurs in Ghana

Gisella Kagy
Lena Song
Researchers randomly provided more or less cash to garment-making firm owners in Ghana before a bargaining game to evaluate the impact of endowment on the negotiated sale price of a good. Owners of garment-making microenterprises with lower household liquidity agreed to lower sale prices during the...

Mobile Phone Data Compared to Household Surveys to Evaluate the Impact of Cash Transfers in Togo

Emily Aiken
Suzanne Bellue
In Togo, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the effect of cash grants on people's welfare and if using mobile phone data in impact evaluations yielded the same results as survey data. They found that the cash grant program increased food security, mental health, and self-perceived...

The Impact of Light-touch Employer-led Interventions on Attitudes Around Women's Work in India

Researchers evaluated the impact of two light-touch interventions (an orientation video for families, and a guided conversation between women and their families) on gender norms related to women’s work and increase labor force participation. Researchers did not find meaningful changes in support of...

Improving Financial Inclusion through Mobile Banking in Bangladesh

Researchers partnered with bKash, one of the leading mobile money providers in Bangladesh, to evaluate the impact of targeted training programs on mobile banking uptake among migrant households. Training increased migrants’ and their families’ adoption of mobile banking, with women adopting the...

The Impact of Disbursing Microfinance Loans via Mobile Money Accounts in Uganda

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test disbursing microfinance loans through digital accounts on business outcomes in Uganda. Women who received their loan through a digital account experienced higher business capital and profits compared to those who received their loans via cash.

Finding Missing Markets: An Agricultural Brokerage Intervention in Kenya

Researchers evaluated whether a package of services, designed to help link smallholder farmers to commercial banks, retail farm suppliers, transportation services, and exporters, could help small farmers in Kenya adopt, finance, and market export crops, and thus make more income. One year after the...

Small Individual Loans and Mental Health in South Africa

This evaluation examined the direct impact of providing small consumer loans to marginally creditworthy individuals in South Africa on their credit access, investment, and well-being, as well as the profitability of these loans for lenders. Results found approving loans for marginally creditworthy...