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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.

Do Online Advertisements Increase Name Recognition or Favorability of Political Candidates in the United States?

David E. Broockman
In order to assess the effects of online advertising, researchers evaluated the impact of a high volume of Facebook advertising on name recognition and favorability of political candidates. E xposure to Facebook ads did not increase recognition of a candidate’s name or increase positive assessments...

Messaging Strategies to Promote Safe Water and Hygiene in Bangladesh

Kaniz Jannat
David Levine
Thomas Polley
Leanne Unicomb
Researchers tested whether sharing messages that appealed to negative emotions, like shame or disgust, increased households’ hand washing behavior and willingness to pay for water chlorination in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Negative messaging had no impact on chlorination levels or willingness to pay, but...

Self-Prophecy Effects and Voter Turnout in the United States

Anton Orlich
Jennifer K. Smith
Researchers contacted registered voters in a New England town by telephone and asked a portion of these voters to predict whether or not they would vote. This allowed researchers to use a randomized evaluation to measure the impact of making a prediction about future voting behavior on actual voting...

Video-Mediated Agricultural Extension to Increase Technology Adoption Among Farmers in Ethiopia

Gashaw Abate
Simrin Makhija
David J. Spielman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of a video-mediated extension approach on the uptake of technologies recommended by the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture. The video-mediated instruction increased uptake through improved access to extension and farmer knowledge but...

Providing a Collaborative Civic Education Program to Students in France, Greece, and Spain

Sandra McNally
Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela
Daniel Santín
Researchers evaluated the impact of a civic education program involving learning-by-doing and student-centered teaching approaches in middle schools across three European countries. The program increased students’ academic performance, respect for school rules, and friendship networks with people...

Demand for Sanitation in Kenyan Urban Slums

In slums near Nairobi, Kenya, researchers are testing how subsidizing the cost of connecting to the sewer system and providing information about the health benefits of improved sanitation affects the number of landlords who connect to the sewer system.

Distributing Pollution Rights in Cap-and-Trade Programs in the United States

Jeffrey Perloff
Researchers evaluated a cap-and-trade program in the United States to determine if the initial allocation of permits among firms affected how much firms decided to pollute. Evidence was consistent with, but not proof of, the economic theory that firms make decisions to reduce emissions based on...