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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.

Attracting Talented Workers by Reducing Application Costs in Ethiopia

Girum Abebe
Esteban Ortiz-Ospina
Researchers partnered with an employer in Addis Ababa to assess the impact of a small monetary incentive to apply for a job or a higher wage offer on the quality of applicants to a vacancy for a clerical position. Both of these changes increased the quality of applicants by similar amounts.

The Impact of Meritocratic Promotions and Pay Progression on Health Care Workers' Productivity in Sierra Leone

Philipp Kastrau
Researchers tested the impact of a meritocratic promotion system and beliefs about pay progression on the productivity of Community Health Workers in Sierra Leone. A combination of meritocracy and the promise of a steep salary increase after promotion led workers to make more health care visits...

Improving Female Labor Force Participation through Flexible, Internet-mediated Gig Work in India

In India, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a flexible, digital gig work opportunities on women’s labor supply, take uptake of employment opportunities, implications for worker productivity, and women’s interest in future outside-the-home work opportunities. as well...

The Impact of Targeted Mailers to Re-Engage US Voters with Criminal Convictions

Laurel Eckhouse
Eric Foster-Moore
Allison Harris
Hannah Walker
Researchers evaluated the impact of targeted mailings encouraging people with criminal records to register to vote on voting behavior in North Carolina. Mailers increased both voter registration and general election turnout among people with past criminal convictions.

Group Versus Individual Liability in the Philippines

Xavier Giné
In this study, researchers randomly selected existing group-lending centers to convert to an individual liability model. They found no difference in repayment rates between individuals assigned individual liability and those assigned group liability, no change in overall profitability for the bank...

Measuring the Impact of Microcredit on Borrowing and Business Outcomes in the Philippines

Researchers measured the impact of individual-liability microcredit on marginally creditworthy applicants in the Philippines. They found that increased access to microcredit expanded borrowing and improved risk management and sharing, but it also led clients to shrink their businesses.

Financial Incentives and an Adolescent Empowerment Program to Reduce Child Marriage in Rural Bangladesh

Nina Buchmann
Shahana Nazneen
Xiao Yu Wang
Researchers evaluated the impacts of an incentive program and an adolescent empowerment program on child marriage, teenage childbearing, and education in rural Bangladesh. Financial incentives conditional on delayed marriage reduced child marriage and teenage childbearing, and increased education...