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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 Effect of Free Contraception on Fertility in Burkina Faso

Adriana Lleras-Muney
Pauline Rossi
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation among households in rural Burkina Faso to examine whether countries in sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing a slower shift in fertility levels due to lack of access to contraception or households wanting large families. Providing married women with access...

Delivering Conditional Cash Transfers Through Checking and Savings Accounts in Chile

Many beneficiaries of social welfare programs around the world receive benefits in cash or by check. Can distributing welfare benefits through electronic transfers directly into bank accounts help some of these low-income individuals enter the formal financial sector? Researchers are partnering with...

Enrolling Informal Sector Workers in National Health Insurance in Indonesia

Arianna Ornaghi
Sudarno Sumarto
A key challenge to achieving universal health coverage is that non-poor informal workers are difficult to enroll and retain in government health insurance programs. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of various programs, including subsidies, registration assistance and...

The impact of door-to-door canvassing on voter support and participation in Italy

Enrico Cantoni
Researchers tested whether discussions between candidates and voters can help bridge this gap and increase voter turnout, leveraging a volunteer and candidate canvassing campaign in the 2014 Italian municipal elections. While canvassing by volunteers increased voter turnout, canvassing by political...

Texting Students to Help Achieve Their Goals in Canada

Christopher Dobronyi
Richard W. Patterson
Uros Petronijevic

Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for Workers without Dependent Children in the United States

Kali Aloisi
Gilda Azurdia
Adam Isen
Cynthia Miller
Caroline Schultz
MDRC partnered with NYC Opportunity, the NYC Human Resources Administration and Food Bank for NYC to design, implement, and evaluate the program. MDRC researchers found that three years of Paycheck Plus in New York City increased income, employment, tax credit receipt, and payment of child support...

Teaching Patience in Classrooms for Improved Student Decision-Making and Behavior in Turkey

Seda Ertac
Researchers introduced an educational program focused on teaching patience to evaluate the impact on students’ decision-making and willingness to wait for a future reward over the present. Students assigned to the program demonstrated more patient decision-making, which persisted almost three years...