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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.

Sending Reminders to Improve Tax Filing Decisions Among Low-Income Individuals in the United States

John Guyton
Patrick Langetieg
Mark Payne
Brenda Schafer
Michael Sebastiani
This study examines how reminders to file taxes affect tax filing decisions among low-income individuals who did not appear on a filed tax return. The results of two randomized evaluations demonstrate that one-time reminders increase tax filing—both to claim tax refunds as well as to voluntarily pay...

Are Rainwater Harvesting Techniques Profitable for Small-Scale Farmers? The Adoption and Impact of RWH Techniques in Niger

In Niger, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of providing training and conditional or unconditional cash transfers on farmers’ adoption and use of an environmental technology, their resulting land use, agricultural production and profitability, and labor allocation...

Improving Student Learning through Classroom Technology Adoption in Pakistan

Waqas Halim
Umar Saif
Researchers partnered with the Government of Pakistan to conduct two parallel randomized evaluations to test the impact of providing supplemental teaching materials on the quality of student learning and teachers’ effectiveness. Overall, the eLearn Classroom intervention improved student achievement...

School Electricity and Native Language Digital Media to Improve Student Learning in Tanzania

Hee Kwon (Samuel) Seo
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of school electrification, delivered alongside mixed-language digital educational materials, on student exam scores and pass rates. They found that neither increased electricity access nor learning material in their native language...

The Effects of Integrated Soil Fertility Management in Burkina Faso

Researchers are evaluating the effect of farmer training program that highlights a balanced approach combining chemical fertilizers with labor-intensive agricultural practices on cowpea farmers' yields in Burkina Faso.

Leveraging Local Governments to Support Rice Mechanization in India

Working with local government leaders and agricultural extension agents, the researcher is conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of promoting a mechanization technology. Uniquely, the researcher will closely track how employment shifts for women who formerly did the mechanized work.

Training Local Leaders to Prevent Gender-Based Violence in Peru

Ursula Aldana
Veronica Frisancho
Jorge Romero
Researchers are partnering with the government to provide training to local leaders geared towards shifting attitudes regarding gender and gender-based violence and increasing skills to detect and prevent its incidence. They will evaluate the impact of this training on the incidence of gender-based...

Welfare Impacts of Micro-Loans in Nigeria

In Nigeria, researchers worked with a financial service provider to evaluate the impact of digital loans on welfare. Being approved for the loans increased subjective well-being after three months, for applicants who normally would have been denied.