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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 Government Subsidies on Private Secondary School Performance in Uganda

Pierre De Galbert
Shwetlena Sabarwal
Researchers partnered with the Ugandan government to evaluate the impact of a public private partnership (PPP) program with low-cost private secondary schools on absorbing large increases in secondary school enrollment in Uganda. The PPP program led to both greater private school enrollment and...

The Impact of School-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on High School Dropout Rates in Mexico

Ciro Avitabile
Janina Cuevas
Rafael de Hoyos
In Mexico, researchers evaluated a math tutoring intervention and a cognitive behavioral therapy-based (CBT) program that aimed to encourage students to slow their decision-making processes and to improve academic readiness for secondary school students at risk of dropping out. The study found mixed...

Price Incentives for Groundwater Conservation in India

Researchers partnered with a rural development organization to evaluate financial incentives for voluntary groundwater conservation among smallholder farmers in Gujarat, India.

The Impact of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Low-Income Individuals in Rural Ghana

Nathan Barker
Angela Ofori-Atta
Researchers worked with Innovations for Poverty Action and the University of Ghana Medical School to design, implement, and conduct a randomized evaluation of the impacts of a group CBT curriculum on low-income individuals in rural Ghana. CBT improved participants’ mental and physical well-being...

Can Transportation Subsidies Reduce Failures to Appear in Criminal Court?

Rebecca Brough
Matthew Freedman
Daniel E. Ho
Researchers partnered with local agencies in King County, Washington to evaluate the impact of providing transit subsidies on rates of FTA in court. While the study was disrupted due to Covid-19, the pilot results indicated that transit subsidies had little effect on reducing FTA.

The Impact of Employment and Cash Transfers on Psychosocial Wellbeing in Bangladesh

Erin Kelley
Fatima Zahra
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of employment on refugee psychosocial well-being in Bangladesh. The study found that employment generated significant psychosocial value beyond that from cash transfers alone.

Union Leaders and Factory Workers’ Collective Action in Myanmar

Labor movements can improve workers’ lives but face great difficulty in getting workers to agree on common goals and take collective actions. In garment factory workers’ group discussions on minimum wage policies in Myanmar, researchers randomly included union leaders to study whether the presence...