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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 Social Program Targeting Strategies on Reported and Actual Asset Ownership in Indonesia

Researchers partnered with the Government of Indonesia to conduct a randomized evaluation that tested whether adding questions on flat-screen televisions and cellphone SIM cards to a targeting census would change people’s reporting and actual purchases of those items. The findings suggest that while...

Increasing Take-Up of the Earned Income Tax Credit

Across six randomized evaluations, researchers studied the impact of low-cost, low-touch informational interventions, or “nudges,” on take-up of the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in California. None of the interventions had an impact on EITC take-up, suggesting that information...

The Impact of Mobile Money on the Purchase of Improved Sanitation Services in Senegal

The proliferation of mobile money across low- and middle-income countries has led to increased availability of mobile payment systems, which can potentially allow more flexible payment terms for customers. Subsidies increased the use of mechanized desludgings, while pre-paid deposit requirements had...

Learning beyond school: the impact of a remedial learning and literacy program on out-of-school girls in Pakistan

This project used a randomized evaluation to study the effect of a learning program targeting adolescent girls on their education, aspirations, and empowerment.

The Impact of a Quiz-Style Information Campaign on Covid-19 Prevention in Ghana

Researchers are measuring the impact of a quiz-style information strategy on people’s learning and adherence to Covid-19 health protocols. This study is part of a three-country research program in Ghana, the US, and Zambia aiming to find evidence on the best strategies to communicate health measures...

Building Trust in Fertilizer Quality Among Farmers in Tanzania

Annemie Maertens
Researchers conducted an evaluation to test the impact of an information campaign about fertilizer quality on farmers’ beliefs and their purchase and use of fertilizer. The information campaign led farmers to change their beliefs about the quality of fertilizer available in local markets and to buy...

Training Teachers in Curiosity-Based Science Pedagogy in India

Ariel Gomez
Vinay Jha
Sandeep Kumar
Despite making great strides in expanding access to education, developing countries like India continue to lag in measures of actual student learning. To understand how quality of education mediates learning, this randomized control trial evaluates a pedagogical intervention training science...

Energy Efficiency in Groundwater Extraction for Agriculture in Bangladesh

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing subsidies for a soil monitoring technology on the electricity used to pump groundwater to agricultural fields in rural Bangladesh. They found that the technology reduced the amount of electricity used for irrigation, but...