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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.

Applying Behavioral Insights to Design Low-Income Insurance Policies in Pakistan

Torben Fischer
Andreas Landmann
This evaluation tested whether offering insurance policies that required enrollment at different group levels mitigated the risk of individuals who are more likely to need health insurance being more likely to purchase policies. When allowed to purchase insurance at the individual level, those most...

Improving Educational Outcomes through Online Tutoring during Schools Closures in Italy during the Covid-19 Outbreak

Researchers designed a free online tutoring program delivered by volunteer university students to test whether it could mitigate the effects of school closures during the COVID-19 outbreak. They found that the program had a positive outcome on students' learning outcomes, socio-emotional skills, and...

Encouraging Teacher Attendance through Monitoring with Cameras in Rural Udaipur, India

This study estimated the effect of financial incentives on teacher attendance on students' attendance and math and language levels. The incentives increased teacher attendance and teaching time, and student test scores rose as a result.

Credit with Health Insurance: Evidence from the Philippines

Researchers are examining the impact of offering health insurance through a microfinance institution on clients’ health behaviors and health outcomes, as well as on the institution’s profit, client retention, and default rates.

Cash Transfers for Education in Morocco

Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation of a cash transfer program in Morocco to estimate the impact on attendance and enrollment of a “labeled cash transfer” (LCT): a small cash transfer made to parents of school-aged children in poor rural communities, not conditional on school attendance...

Increasing Profits through Subsidized Microenterprise Relocation in Uganda

Those self-employed in microenterprises, who often report low profits and own few assets, account for fifty percent of the labor force in low-income countries. Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the effect of relieving constraints to microenterprise relocation on business...

Extra Contract Teachers in Andhra Pradesh, India

Venkatesh Sundararaman
Researchers evaluated the impact of hiring extra contract teachers in primary schools in India on student learning. Results show that students in schools with an extra contract teacher performed significantly better than those in comparison schools in both math and language areas. Evidence also...