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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.

Local Leadership and the Voluntary Provision of Public Goods in Bolivia

María P. Recalde
Researchers used a randomized evaluation to test how local leaders influence the voluntary provision of public goods. They solicited contributions for environmental education books, which all members of the community would be able to access, and varied whether leaders made public contributions. They...

Early Childhood Development at Scale through Home Health Visits

Johannes Bos
Akib Khan
Researchers in Bangladesh conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of integrating light-touch ECD support into an existing national child health program on early childhood development outcomes. Children who received the ECD support showed improvements in cognitive, language, and physical...

The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment in the United States

Heidi Allen
Mira Bernstein
Jonathan Gruber
Joseph P. Newhouse
Eric Schneider
Jae Song
Bill Wright
Alan Zaslavsky
In a series of evaluations, researchers took advantage of a lottery that gave low-income uninsured adults the chance to apply for Medicaid in the United States to examine the impact of health insurance on these outcomes over the first two years.

The Impact of Delayed Wage Payments on Spending and Investment in Malawi

Lasse Brune
Qingxiao Li
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of paying workers on a weekly basis or in one lump sum, as well as of receiving payments in contexts with greater temptation to spend, on their spending and investment decisions. Workers assigned to receive lump-sum wages were more...

The Impact of Farmer-to-Farmer Training on Agricultural Productivity in Uganda

Jeremie Gignoux
Rick Kamugisha
Jane Kugonza
Margaret Najjingo Mangheni
Researchers evaluated the impact of a farmer-to-farmer training program on Ugandan farmers’ knowledge and use of improved dairy farming practices, as well as dairy production and revenues. Overall, the farmer-to-farmer training program improved farmers’ knowledge, productivity and revenues.

A Universal Program to Raise the Well-being of Rural Communities in Uganda

Many programs that aim to help people in poverty are tailored to specific households. But often, entire communities can be living in poverty. Researchers partnered with the NGO Raising the Village to conduct a randomized evaluation of a universal livelihoods program in Uganda that offered a bundle...

Reducing Corruption Among Local Politicians in Benin

Many governments have devolved some political and economic authority to local entities, hoping to achieve more accountable and effective governance at the local level. Yet political corruption often hinders effective delivery of local services like water, sanitation, or primary education. Increasing...