J-PAL Southeast Asia at 10: Environment, Energy, and Climate Change

Encouraging Carpooling in Malaysia and Singapore: Traffic is a significant concern in many rapidly developing and urbanizing countries, as it contributes to increased commute times, pollution, and fuel consumption. One solution to this challenge could be ride-sharing to reduce the number of cars on the road. In Malaysia and Singapore, J-PAL affiliated researchers Abhijit Banerjee (MIT) and Rema Hanna (Harvard), and their coauthors Ruimin He (Entend.ai), Zoe Hitzig (Harvard) and Xin Wei Ngaim (Grab) are partnering with a mobile ride-sharing service to test different pricing and information strategies to increase carpooling. The results indicate that in some cases, information interventions backfire, while the subsidies sometimes have a small positive effect during the promotional period, but, if anything, decrease drivers’ probability of participation in the market after the subsidy period has ended.*

*Not Implemented by J-PAL SEA (i.e., either implemented independently by researchers, partner organizations, or by Innovations for Poverty Action Philippines).