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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 Debt Relief in India and the Philippines

Researchers evaluated whether offering market vendors cash grants to pay off existing debt and financial training influenced future borrowing behavior. While market vendors were less likely to borrow and borrowed in smaller amounts in the short-term, most returned to debt within six weeks.

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...

The Impact of Access to Credit and Business Training on Entrepreneurs’ Business Outcomes and Resilience to COVID-19

Lise Masselus
Researchers are conducting a randomized evaluation to test the impact of access to credit and business training on entrepreneurs’ business outcomes and households’ resilience to cope with the consequences of COVID-19. Research is ongoing; results are forthcoming.

The Impact of Mobile-Based Market Information on Informal Cross-Border Trading in Kenya and Uganda

Eleanor Wiseman
Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether reducing information disparities by giving access to critical market information through a mobile phone platform would improve traders’ profits and decrease incidences of corruption and bribery. Access to the mobile phone platform...

Integration through Friendship—Evidence from a Peer Matching Program in Sweden

Increasing levels of migration to the European Union have created significant challenges for governments to ensure migrants fully integrate and thrive in their host societies, but there is little rigorous evidence that evaluates current programs that promote social inclusion. Researchers are...

Cash Transfers and Management Advice for Farmers in Senegal

In Senegal, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to study the effect of providing management advice and a one-time cash transfer on agricultural productivity and farmers’ investment in their businesses. Receiving both the cash transfer and management advice had positive impacts on yields...

Empowering women through mobile money in Tanzania

Empowering women not only has the potential to improve their lives, but also their children's health and education. In partnership with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and BRAC, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test whether encouraging women to make weekly loan repayments...