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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 Informative Letters on the Prescription and Receipt of Seroquel in the United States

Shantanu Agrawal
Michael Barnett
Frank Tetkoski
David Yokum
This study evaluated the impact of strongly-worded peer comparison review letters sent to high prescribers of quetiapine by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on prescribing behavior and patient-level outcomes. Researchers found that the letters caused substantial and long-lasting...

Testing Alternative Job Evaluation Schemes to Improve Civil Servants’ Work Performance in China

Employers often rely on subjective performance evaluations by supervisors to gauge the performance of workers–particularly in the public sector, where civil servants’ work performance is hard to measure. However, relying on the opinions of local supervisors could cause subordinates to prioritize...

The Effects of a Universal Basic Income during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Kenya

Michael Faye
Alan Krueger
Taking advantage of a pre-existing large-scale evaluation of a universal basic income project in Kenya, researchers measured how different types of cash transfers impact recipients’ income, reported well-being, food security, mental health, and social interaction in the context of the COVID-19...

Pay for Perfomance Incentives for Heathcare Workers and Their Supervisors in Sierra Leone

Philipp Kastrau
Working with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone, researchers evaluated the impact of incentivizing community health workers (CHWs), their supervisors, or both on health care provision. Sharing the incentive between CHWs and their supervisors resulted in more health care visits...

The Impact of Reducing Tax Rates and Strengthening Enforcement on Revenue Collection in the DRC

In partnership with the Provincial Government of Kasaï-Central in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation during the 2018 property tax collection campaign to test the impact of lower property tax rates and stronger tax enforcement on revenue collection...

The Impact of Daily Quizzing on Student Achievement in Kenya

Researchers are partnering with Bridge International Academies to evaluate the impact of daily quizzing on students’ learning outcomes in Kenya.